Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Raphael Trotman on Monday indicated to the media that there is a possibility that his party may enter the upcoming Local Government Elections alone and not in collaboration with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
“There is a strong opinion of body that we should go alone,” he said in a conference, moments ago.
Tortman, who opted not to provide a reason why the party was contemplating that route, said that the matter is still being discussed.
The AFC has, of recent, come under fire for the submissive role in played when it joined forces with the APNU.
In mid-November 2017, the top leadership of the AFC had decided to revise its governing agreement with the coalition partner.
This decision was taken after the AFC – the smaller of the two factions forming the Government – was accused of being coerced by its large partner.
However, Trotman had committed to write to meet with the APNU to initiate discussions with regards to the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord, which was signed before the last General and Regional Election in 2015.
But several months have passed and Trotman is yet to write the APNU. This was made clear by Secretary of APNU, Joseph Harmon, who said recently that to date, no correspondence was received.
There have been reports that the AFC was not too comfortable with the current Cummingsburg Accord which sets out how the two coalition partners would divide up the Government Ministries.
Under the current configuration of Government, the AFC has received the portfolios of the Prime Minister, Public Security Ministry, Public Infrastructure Ministry, and the Agriculture Ministry, among others.
In one of his weekly columns, former House Speaker Ralph Ramkarran said the inability of the AFC to successfully push for constitutional reform, a platform on which the party campaigned, has seriously damaged its credibility; and in order to restore some of its integrity, the AFC must resign from Government.
