Discussions at an Alliance For Change (AFC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Saturday focused on a prime ministerial candidate for the next elections and the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord between it and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), sources say.
“The NEC met to discuss the launching of their campaign with the APNU and key among those discussions were the renegotiation of the Cummingsburg Accord because it expires next year and the announcing [of the prime ministerial] candidate,” a party executive told Stabroek News following the meeting. The Cummingsburg Accord underpinned APNU’s and AFC’s joint contesting of the 2015 general elections which saw the coalition defeating the PPP, which lost power after 23 years.
Another party executive said that the AFC wants the issue of the Cummings-burg Accord renegotiation settled early – before general elections are announced – and because it expires next year. “It has worked well and we feel that it should be dealt with before we go into campaign mode,” the source said.
Asked if it was because the party doesn’t trust its coalition partner, the executive explained, “It has nothing to do about trust. There wasn’t a trust issue [when] we had one to begin with so I don’t see you asking me about trust now. It has worked well, everyone knows it has. In politics, well, generally, you need agreements in black and white as safeguard. Not a trust matter, it is just that it is better to be safe than sorry.”
And while the PNCR – the main player in the governing coalition – has said that it has not discussed the matter of a prime ministerial candidate yet, the AFC has maintained that it will stand by its choice of current Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan.
“Khemraj is the choice of the AFC and going by the Cummingsburg Accord, he would be the coalition’s choice but that is an announcement to not be made by us but by the president himself. We know the president is honourable and would honour our party’s choice,” another source said.
Stabroek News understands that the party has already picked its team to renegotiate the Cummingsburg pact and has written APNU to inform them.
PNCR Chairperson Volda Lawrence recently said that her party has not yet discussed the issue of a prime ministerial candidate, giving rise to speculation that APNU may be looking in a different direction.
“The party welcomes the fact that the AFC party was able to have their conference and elect their new candidate for the prime ministerial position. The party or the coalition and the AFC have not reached that stage in terms of discussions on prime ministerial candidate,” she had told a press conference last month.
When the AFC National Conference met in June, the party overwhelmingly endorsed Ramjattan as the prime ministerial candidate for the next elections. Ramjattan beat out current Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo when the party membership was polled on who should take the position should the APNU+AFC coalition jointly contest the next elections.
At the conference, asked whether there needs to be acceptance from its coalition partner, AFC General Secretary David Patterson had said that the coalition is governed by an agreement, the Cummingsburg Accord, which is still in force states that the AFC shall nominate a prime ministerial candidate. “There is nowhere in that agreement that says nominate a prime ministerial candidate who the coalition accepts or not,” he added.
Patterson also pointed out that the Accord has not expired, noting that its lifespan is 60 months. He had said that each party at the expiration of 36 months, has an option to cancel the agreement. “So, therefore, we are duty-bound to respect it from 0 to 36 and them from 36 to 60. Both sides of the Accord have the option of if they would like to break it, they indicate. Neither of the parties has done that so until the expiration of the 60th month, the Accord is still in effect,” he added.
