Reiterating his interest in vying to become the APNU+AFC coalition’s prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming general elections, Alliance for Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday disclosed that the party will make a selection at its next National Conference, which is slated for mid-June.
“Yes, I have already indicated my interest and there are others, I am certain, who will indicate their interest and so it is going to be interesting, I rather suspect, and it is good to have inside of political parties the regular rivalries between leaders,” Ramjattan said in response to a question from Stabroek News during a press conference held at the AFC’s Kitty headquarters.
He said the general practice is that recommendations are made at the National Conference and a candidate is then selected. The Public Security Minister insists that if selected he will be up to the task. “Of course, I think I will be,” he said.
In February, Ramjattan had said that if offered the opportunity he would agree to replace Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as President David Granger’s running mate going into the next general elections.
“I would certainly accept the nomination,” he said then.
AFC Leader Raphael Trotman had said that he supports Nagamootoo and warned that replacing him at this time could be seen as indicative of accepting that the APNU+AFC coalition has failed as a government.
In response to this, Ramjattan had noted that it was Trotman’s personal opinion and, therefore, should not be construed as a party stance since there was no decision as yet on the matter.
Trotman had explained that his support for Nagamootoo stemmed from his belief that replacing him would be seen as an acceptance by government that it had failed and that the opposition’s no-confidence motion against it from last December was justified.
“The no-confidence motion was a direct challenge on the Granger/ Nagamootoo leadership. In my view, if we were to jump to replace either gentleman in an emotive way, we would be openly conceding that the motion and vote were justified and valid,” Trotman had told this newspaper in an interview.
Although other members of the AFC’s leadership have stated that it is unlikely that Nagamootoo would be proposed as the prime ministerial candidate again, Trotman said he believed that Nagamootoo should remain as he thought there is no other candidate who could attract more votes than him.
“Politics and elections are very fluid and it is simply too early to talk about replacing anyone, unless, of course, you have others who are eminently better qualified and will bring out a larger percentage of the vote. As a politician, I prefer not to be too hasty, but to take time to observe and assess before reacting emotively,” he had said.
“The AFC has not put forward an alternative name to Moses, and right now I am not sure if anyone feels that he or she can do a better job by winning more votes nationally, and has national acceptability. It is important to not only bear the ethnic factor in mind, but also to ensure that all groups feel a sense of comfort in the candidate – whether they vote for him or her or not,” he added.
Many believe that given the atmosphere at the last National Executive Committee meeting, Nagamootoo will not be proposed as the prime ministerial candidate again. “The majority view is that we will want the same things as in the Cummingsburg [Accord] going into this elections but most persons are of the view that the Prime Minister position should go to someone else,” one senior party executive, who requested anonymity, told this newspaper.
