By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Founding member of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman says the Party is marginally affected by members who resigned as a result of it coalescing with A Partnership For National Unity (APNU).
Even before the coalition was announced, the former General Secretary of the Party, Sixtus Edwards resigned, later citing his disbelief in the coalition as one of the reasons.
On Thursday, another AFC member Balwant Persaud informed media operatives that he had resigned. He too cited disappointment in the fact that the AFC had coalesced with APNU as his reason for leaving.
“But recently, the AFC has deceived the members of the Party by aligning with the APNU… the AFC’s Executive are just selfish … the leaders of the AFC are just concerned about getting into Parliament and holding positions,” Persaud is quoted as saying in the Guyana Times Friday February 20 edition.
But according to Trotman, it was expected that the Party would have some persons leaving its corners but noted that more people are coming to the true realization of what the coalition of the two political factions mean.
“For every Balwant Persaud and Sixtus Edwards that we lose, we are gaining hundreds,” said Trotman.
He told reporters at a news conference on Friday, February 20 that Persaud, AFC’s latest deserter, may have been compromised by the incumbent.
He said that Persaud “came to the Party when he was hounded by the PPP…accused him of visa fraud and all kinds of things. I believe based on the feedback that I am getting, he has been compromised.”
