Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader Raphael Trotman says his support for Moses Nagamootoo to be the Prime Ministerial (PM) candidate for APNU+AFC at the next elections stems from his belief that replacing him would be seen as an acceptance by government that it has failed and that the opposition’s no-confidence motion against it 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 told Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
According to an AFC press statement, at the January 26th, 2019 meeting of the AFC’s National Executive Council, Trotman, in his address, reaffirmed his confidence in the David Granger/Moses Nagamootoo leadership to guide the Coalition Government in the period ahead.
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 believes that Nagamootoo should remain where he is as there is no other candidate to 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 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.
Senior party officials have said that decisions about the AFC’s future will be made at its upcoming national conference. While a date has not yet been set for the conference, officials have assured that it will be held by March 31st, 2019, as per the party’s constitution.
Many believe that given the atmosphere at the last NEC meeting, Nagamootoo will not be proposed as the PM 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, has told this newspaper.
“I cannot tell you why the leader said that he supports another Granger/ Nagamootoo term, but I can tell you that the view of most of us is Granger yes but Moses again no. No one is blaming Moses for anything—well, that I know of—but the general consensus is to have another person as PM,” another party official said.
“Another candidate would be good overall…I cannot tell you of all the party’s internal wrangling, for want of a better word, but I can assure you that they want changes in this party; changes that reflect what we were founded on,” the official added.
‘New and younger faces’
Trotman said that while the party’s conference is indeed slated for the end of March, there is an understanding among party members that if elections were to be held anytime near to that date, either before or after, that it would be postponed.
And although he would not say who he would support for top party positions then, he is of the firm belief that “younger faces” should be given prominence.
“It is not appropriate for me to name a person or preference for the leadership of the party, except to say that the current crop of leaders need to give serious consideration to some new and younger faces being given the mantle of responsibility, if not at the next conference, then very soon thereafter,” he stressed.
He said that he has no animosity towards any members of the party. He pointed out that from the inception of the AFC’s formation over 13 years ago, there have been attempts to foment divisions between the leaders of the movement by saying they are fighting each other but they “have never worked. Even now I see a concerted attempt to drive a wedge between Khemraj and Moses Nagamootoo and it will be resisted. There is no rift between Khemraj and myself and we have worked well as a team over the years and will continue to work with each other.”
Trotman added that while he knows that his critics believe that he is more aligned to his former party, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), members of the public can judge for themselves from his work.
“Ever since leaving the PNC to form the AFC, I have been accused of being a silent member of the PNC. One only has to review the results of the 2006 elections, when I was the presidential candidate, and where the AFC pulled more of the PNC’s traditional votes than from any other party, and the growth of the AFC from an idea to a coalition partner in government in under a decade, to quickly realise where my efforts and energies were and are. If I was quietly working for the PNC, the AFC would have been a thing of the past by now,” he argued.
‘Forgot to bring the people along’
In its statement following its recent NEC, the AFC also said Trotman acknowledged that the party “did make some mis-steps in government” and must work harder to deliver for the Guyanese people.
Trotman said he believes that there were “mis-steps” where the AFC leaders got consumed by work duties and forgot the masses and he noted that he made this point during the congress.
Trotman wants the party’s supporters, and by extension the general populace, to know that it understands that they are hurt and it is sorry and will work fervently to make things right. “I believe that the AFC team of ministers became overly consumed by being good Ministers, and forgot to bring the people along with us,” he said.
“So, as roads were being built, ICT hubs erected, crime being confronted, new markets being found for rice, or spreading the HEYS [Hinterland Employment and Youth Service] programme in the hinterland, we could have done more to address some bread and butter issues and as leader I told the members of the National Executive Committee last Saturday that we hear the frustrations and I apologised,” he added.
Trotman also said that he was “disappointed” by the party’s showing at last November’s local government elections but was “certainly not devastated.”
For him, “the results confirmed that we had maintained our support in some areas and lost in others. Most importantly, the results confirmed the adage that the AFC and APNU were better working together.”
