– reaffirms strength, cohesion of Coalition
Less than two weeks before the second anniversary of the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections which put the coalition Administration in office, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has announced the appointment of a special Cummingsburg Accord Review Committee (CARC).
The members appointed to this committee are: Dr Vincent Adams, Dr Rohan Somar, Marlon Williams, David Patterson, Joel Edmond, Sherod Duncan, a representative of Women For Change, and a representative of Youth For Change. The members will appoint a chairperson from among themselves.
According to a statement from the party issued on Sunday evening, the CARC has been tasked with “studying the Cummingsburg Accord and identifying areas which may require strengthening and updating, along with discussion and negotiation” with coalition partner APNU (A Partnership for National Unity).
This decision was taken at the AFC’s second National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting for 2017.
While the party is simultaneously reaffirming that the coalition Government remains strong and cohesive, and committed to the coalition’s ideals and principles and the Cummingsburg Accord itself, it nevertheless noted that the accord is a sunset agreement which requires early review ahead of the Local Government Elections of 2019 and the General and Regional Elections in 2020.
“The Cummingsburg Accord is an historic agreement which (created) the platform for the APNU+AFC coalition coming to government in 2015. It has served as a guide to the coalition partners in government, and there have been good faith and a strong sense of mutual respect on both sides,” AFC Leader Raphael Trotman posited.
“Given that we are approaching our second anniversary in government, it presents an opportune time to engage in reflection and commence an early process of thorough, comprehensive and necessary review of the Cummingsburg Accord with a view to strengthening, updating and broadening the agreement as we look towards upcoming elections in two and three years’ time,” the Chairman added.
Trotman went on to say, “The CARC has been tasked with widely consulting with the party’s members and stakeholders — to listen to their views and recommendations and examining the agreement itself; and present to the party’s NEC, at its next meeting, a preliminary report on the areas which in its view require further examination.”
Nevertheless, he reiterated that the party is keen on ensuring that it prepares adequately and comprehensively for future elections.
The second NEC meeting for 2017 was held on April 29 at the Egbert Benjamin Conference Centre in Linden, Region 10; following the first, which was held in March in Georgetown.
The party engaged in discussions on a number of high-level matters, which included the issue of Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education tuition, and agreed to the Linden Declaration.
