Former Member of Parliament for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, Reynard Ward has resigned from the party.
Ward tendered his resignation on Monday.
In a letter sent to General Secretary David Patterson, the former parliamentarian said the party has failed to implement changes related to constitutional reform and has locked itself in a one-sided relationship with the APNU.
“I must, strongly note my service to the Alliance For Change (AFC) for the past years as the party fought for the advancement of policies, programs and projects that should have brought development to our nation on every front, some of which it did achieve, but failed on others especially that of constitutional reform,” the letter said in part.
“Unfortunately, I don’t share the belief that the party holds that key anymore and has now locked itself inside that door and in a broken, abusive and one-sided relationship that was not supported by many,” Ward said in his resignation letter.
Ward has now joined a long list of senior members of the party who have walked away from the party.
In August last, longtime member Gobin Harbhajan resigned from the party, stating that it has strayed from its core values.
Two months later, Abel Seetaram, a former Regional Councillor for Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) also resigned and later that same month Audwin Rutherford, a parliamentarian for Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) resigned, contending that it has lost its way and has been subsumed by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
Those were the same reasons given by Vladimir Glasgow, who resigned from the party the following month.
However, one month prior, former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson resigned from the position of General Secretary. He later withdrew the resignation.
According to Ward, during the pre-coalition era, the party was considered the public’s “pitbull” but is now a puppet to the People’s National Congress.
“There seems to be no hope for a better tomorrow with the current players even with a reshuffle. The bitterness and backbiting will eat away the very fact that many hard-working hands built over the trust over the years,” he told Patterson in his letter.
Efforts to contact the party’s General Secretary for a comment on this most recent resignation proved futile.
