A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has announced the expansion of its membership to include two new political parties formed by former ministers Jaipaul Sharma and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.
A statement from the coalition explained that on Friday the APNU Executive Council accepted applications from Sharma’s Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP) and Sarabo-Halley’s Guyana Nation Builders Movement (GNBM).
Sharma, a former executive member of the Justice for All Party (JFAP), announced the formation of ERJP on his Facebook page, where he declared that Guyana under the Irfaan Ali-led PPP/c government lacks equal rights and justice.
“I am therefore looking forward to your support once you are in agreement that every Guyanese regardless of their ethnicity, religion, gender, age, occupation, physical disability, political affiliation and level of education are entitled to Equal Rights and Justice,” he explained in the post made on Friday evening.
Sarabo-Halley’s movement appears to have been in existence at least since April 21, when she posted a video on her official Facebook page.
“Our decision to not get involved creates more space for those whose agendas are self-serving,” she stated, before adding that young people must ask themselves several questions, including whether they are comfortable with where Guyana stands as a country and how they can create an environment where all feel equal.
Guyana’s reality is the result of the choices of past generations and its future will be a reflection of the choices made now, Sarabo-Halley argued.
A former member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Sarabo-Halley resigned from that party after it withdrew from APNU over complaints it was not being consulted on decisions made by the coalition. Neither Sarabo-Halley nor the WPA has provided a public explanation of her resignation.
Yesterday’s statement from APNU reminded that the coalition will celebrate its 10th anniversary in July, 2021.
Initially comprised of the People’s National Congress Reform, the JFAP, WPA, the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the National Front Alliance (NFA), the APNU has contested in three general and regional elections. In 2011, it contested alone but in 2015 chose to compete with the Alliance for Change as APNU+AFC.
The coalition won those elections and formed a government which fell after a no-confidence motion in 2018. Following the 2020 general elections, the coalition was accused of attempting to rig the polls, resulting in a contentious five month process before a final declaration was made.
During this period, the JFAP had publicly called on coalition leader David Granger to concede the elections and allow for Ali to be declared president. It later withdrew from the coalition after Granger, who is representative of the APNU+AFC list, failed to select a member of the party to sit in parliament.
The WPA similarly withdrew from the coalition after it said it was not consulted on the party’s representative not just in Parliament but also on the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
