With the Alliance for Change (AFC) due to withdraw from the main opposition coalition at year end, party leader Khemraj Ramjattan on Friday reassured that it would not lose its parliamentary seats after the exit.
During a virtual press conference yesterday, Ramjattan dismissed speculation about the party losing its nine seats as “trash talk.”
“There’s an inviolability of the APNU+AFC list…nothing can be done…nothing will happen to our nine seats. We are entitled to our nine seats….nobody could knock us off once through, elected and then appointed and then swear in,” Ramjattan contended.
In November, Ramjattan confirmed that his party will be going on its own by December 31st but will still maintain a working relationship with coalition partner A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Ramjattan had said that the decision to do so was necessary in order for the party to rebuild its focus and base and “go back to the ground.”
The original Cummingsburg Accord of 2015 was the basis for the APNU and AFC successfully contesting the 2015 elections on a joint slate, although there had been resistance by APNU hardliners to the concessions made to the AFC, including the award of 12 seats, control of key ministries and holding the prime ministership.
The Accord was revised in 2019 ahead of the 2020 elections but it was never made public. However, the AFC has accused APNU of reneging on the agreement for its holding of the Deputy Chairmanship of Region Four as well as Region Ten. During the years when the coalition was in government, the AFC had complained of feeling sidelined by the said APNU.