APNU yesterday remained mum about its 22 members for Parliament even as a row raged across social media about concerns that PNCR Chair, Volda Lawrence was surprisingly not on the list.
In the meanwhile, its coalition partner the AFC named its nine members retaining its key ministers from the last administration.
Selections of Parliamentarians from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) list of candidates appears to have devolved into a public power struggle within the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
APNU party leader and representative of the list, former President David Granger has reportedly compiled a list of parliamentarians which excludes several executives of the PNCR including party chair Lawrence.
Attorney and PNCR member, James Bond who has worked closely with Lawrence confirmed to Stabroek News yesterday that the long-time parliamentarian had been informed that she would not be returning to the assembly.
“Only David Granger can tell you the full list but I can confirm that Comrade Lawrence is not on the list,” he told this newspaper.
Bond later went live on his Facebook page to bemoan “the poor leadership” of Granger and accuse him of betraying those most loyal to the party such as Lawrence.
“There was no consultation…she was summoned to a meeting and told she is not going to parliament,” he lamented adding that the party deserves a leader who will listen.
He explained that many of the party’s candidates including himself learnt that they were not parliamentarians from media reports.
These reports claimed that Granger, Lawrence, Basil Williams and Amna Ally will not be returning to the Assembly.
Stabroek News was unable to reach Granger, Lawrence and Ally while Williams asked the newspaper to direct all questions to Congress Place. Attempts to contact Congress Place via phone and email proved futile.
Lawrence is immensely popular among PNCR constituents in Georgetown and this helped to propel her to the chairmanship of the party.
The governing PPP/C is still to identify its own parliamentarians. Stabroek News understands that the party has scheduled an executive committee meeting for today at which the 33 candidates who will hold seats in the assembly will be finalized.
Expired
Providing that both the PPP/C and the coalition submit their list of names today the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will finally be able to gazette the results of the March 2 polls. Normally lists of parliamentarians are to be submitted within 15 days of a declaration of results; those 15 days expired yesterday.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) last evening announced that five of its former ministers including party leader Khemraj Ramjattan will be returning to the National Assembly for the 12th Parliament. They will be joined by newcomers Sherod Duncan, Juretha Fernandes, Deonarine Ramsaroop and Devin Sears.
In a statement issued last night, party executive Cathy Hughes stated that the former ministers are expected to use their experience to influence the legal and policy framework of the energy and other vital sectors as Guyana becomes an oil and gas producing state.
Those returning are Ramjattan the former Minister of Public Security, Hughes the former Minister of Public Telecommunications as well as the former Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, and Business Minister, Haimraj Rajkumar.
In total the junior member of the APNU+AFC Coalition will hold nine of the 31 seats won by the party at the March 2 polls. Notably the party has committed to a “rotation of seats” where at the midterm other members will be considered to replace seated parliamentarians in the initial list.
This practice of rotation was first initiated by the Benschop for Mayor Group at the Georgetown City Council following the 2016 local government elections at which they won a single seat. It has been replicated by the three parties which formed a “joinder list” ahead of the March 2 elections. The three parties have committed to “sharing” the single seat over the next five years and identified leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, Lenox Shuman as the first MP.
In the statement, Hughes explained that her name and that of Ramsaroop were extracted from the Region 4 lists while Sears will be representing Region 10. All other names were extracted from the National Top Up list.
It was noted that executive member Valerie Lowe “expressed a desire to serve in the Party’s rebuilding”. Lowe formerly served as Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs.
No mention was made of former members such as the former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo but Hughes acknowledged that the party could have chosen many more who were worthy of a seat in Parliament.
“We had to settle on nine,” she said, before explaining the intention to rotate the seats.
“We are excited that our list also includes new faces with an emphasis on youth and gender representation. We are confident that our new Parliamentarians will advocate policies that are of special relevance to youth, women and our Indigenous population,” Hughes said of the new members before concluding that her party looks forward to working with APNU towards the fair and equitable distribution of Guyana’s newfound wealth and opportunities to all its citizens.
“We will also fight for the establishment of good governance and the fair application of Guyana’s laws for the benefit of all its citizens,” she concluded.
