Adamant that their coalition partner APNU reneged on agreements in their revamped Cummingsburg Accord agreement, the Alliance for Change (AFC) yesterday set up a committee to determine its next move.
“The NEC (National Executive Council) was of the strong view, that a fundamental breach of the Accord was committed, as such a committee has been established to provide guidance and recommendations to the party on the continued effectiveness of the Accord as well as a review of the mechanisms to effect any future agreements,” the AFC said in a statement, following a meeting of its National Executive Council yesterday.
“The committee will be submitting its report within 10 days, thereafter another NEC meeting will be held on October 18, 2020. The NEC, with the agreement of the General Secretary has deferred a decision on the resignations to this later date,” it added.
This newspaper contacted AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan for insight into the scope of works of the committee and when a meeting with APNU Leader David Granger will be held. He said that he could not say anything outside of the statement.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has said that it is investigating how the agreement between the two sides fell apart during the Election of the Chair and Vice Chair of two Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs).
“There was an agreement between the APNU and AFC about the Chair and Vice Chair. The situation which arose at the elections is under investigation,” APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon had said when contacted by Stabroek News for comment. He declined to explain the nature of the agreement.
The revised Cummingsburg Accord that the AFC refers to as the guiding principles behind power sharing between the two sides has never been made public.
Signed in secret, the AFC Leader had told this newspaper it was “just a tweaking of the old accord with some minor changes in the number of seats and so on”.
Stabroek News understands that as part of the revised Cummingsburg Accord, the two members of the Coalition agreed that a member of APNU would Chair any RDC won following the May 2 Regional Elections. A member of the AFC was to be elected Vice Chair.
Honourably
“Deliberations on the Addendum to the Revised Cummingsburg Accord that provides for the AFC to name the Vice Chairpersons for Regions #4 and #7 noted that the Alliance For Change behaved honourably and with integrity and would have upheld the Accord and Addendum. The party also noted the responses offered by the Leader of APNU as to the reasons why the similar provision was not upheld by APNU,” the AFC statement explained.
However, while the agreed process was operationalized in Region Seven it was ignored in Regions Four and 10.
In Region Four the two parties supported APNU nominee Daniel Seeram for the post of Chairman but they did not appear to be on the same page when each nominated candidates for the post of Vice-Chairman.
The 15 APNU candidates, including new Chairman Seeram, who cast the deciding vote, supported their own candidate over the AFC nominee at the meeting held at the Bladen Hall School on the East Coast.
In Region 10, AFC nominee for Vice Chair, Norris King declined the nomination after being informed by the PNCR that it would not support him.
“It is an 18-member council with five AFC candidates and 10 APNU candidates. I heard about three days before the elections that APNU would not hold true to the agreement and took it as persons trying to be mischievous but on the day I learnt from a very senior member of the PNCR that I would not have their support,” he had told Stabroek News.
Asked to identify the “senior member”, King said it was party General Secretary Amna Ally. Ally who was present at the Region 10 election is said to have influenced her party members to vote for a PNCR candidate as Vice Chair.
King explained that after being told by Ally that he would not receive the party’s support he chose to decline the nomination and step back rather than create conflict.
He described the reaction of his party to the development as “shocked”.
As a result of APNU’s decision in Region 4, AFC General Secretary David Patterson immediately tendered his resignation.
Reconsider
Yesterday, the party said that it saw the resignation and unanimously urged him to reconsider his position. It is unclear if he will.
According to the statement yesterday, the party ratified its commitment to its founding principles; that each and every person is equal and to the construction and administering of a just society within the framework of participation by all persons, the enhancement of our diverse community and the preservation of the Guyanese identity.
It said too that the Party noted the need for healing and reconciliation.
“The NEC agreed to a process geared towards strengthening the AFC as it looks forward “Beyond March 2020”, and positioning the AFC as a viable and responsible entity. The NEC noted the need for introspection and strengthening the party so we can better serve Guyana at this critical time in its history as we find solutions to the complex problems that face us today as a country,” the statement said.
