As coalition discussions continue in the run-up to general elections next year, the Alliance For Change (AFC) says it has held positive talks with the Guyana Action Party (GAP).
A post on the Facebook page of AFC Leader, Nigel Hughes said that on Friday the Leadership of the AFC and GAP continued their engagements about bilateral collaboration for the 2025 elections.
“The discussions were positive. The engagement is at an advanced stage with detailed announcements to be made shortly”, the post said.
GAP is currently a member of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). It was APNU which teamed up with AFC at the 2015 general elections to defeat the PPP/C and take the reins of government. Since APNU+AFC lost power at the 2020 general elections there has been turmoil in the ranks of the opposition.
APNU and the AFC went their separate ways. GAP has since had strained relations with the main force in APNU, the PNCR.
This arose after some of the members of APNU met on June 6th this year – without the PNCR – and elected the GAP Leader Vincent Henry as the new Chair of APNU. The position had been previously held by the PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton. The APNU members who met on June 6th said the PNCR had been notified about the meeting but did not show up. The election of Henry as Chair of APNU was seen as a setback to both Norton and the PNCR.
Analysts say that since the election of Hughes as leader of the AFC, there has been manoeuvring in the ranks of the opposition to outflank the PNCR and bring it to the table for broader discussions. It has been argued that with around a year to go before polls, the PNCR as is is not electable and would have to work with the AFC and other groups on building a new coalition.
The analysts say that the inevitable question is who would lead a coalition that comprises the PNCR and AFC as the main partners. The PNCR has been adamant that Norton has to be the presidential candidate but other parts of the opposition have intimated that Norton would not be able to deliver a win given the questions that continue to swirl about the party’s involvement in attempts to prevent the handover of power after the March 2020 general elections and internal divisions in the PNCR which reached a crescendo just days before party’s congress in June last year and which saw the abrupt departure of the general secretary, various accusations against Norton and challenges to his leadership of the party from key members.
Norton however beat back the challenges and was re-elected as leader of the PNCR. Since then, there have been outreaches by both the PNCR and the AFC to other parties.
Meanwhile, the stalemate continues with the other section of the opposition. The list joinder comprising the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TNM) has seen the breach of an agreement for the sharing of one seat among the three parties. While the LJP vacated the seat after its allotted period, the TNM’s parliamentarian Dr Asha Kissoon has refused to give up the seat as promised to the ANUG candidate. She has provided no explanation but the belief is that she has been encouraged to continue occupation of the seat to deprive ANUG of a voice in Parliament.
