Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger has rapped the Alliance For Change (AFC) for threatening to begin its elections campaign outside of the coalition.
“It is part of the agreement that we should have a joint campaign. So, I cannot understand why, in spite of that agreement, there should be an attempt to have separate campaigns,” Granger expressed during an interview on the sidelines of an event this morning.
“It’s one coalition, not two coalitions,” he said.
The AFC had threatened to start its campaign for the March 2020 elections without the APNU, if talks on a new Cummingsburg Accord were not finalised on Monday, November 18.
The deadline has passed without a conclusion of the negotiations.
In fact, instead of meeting with the AFC on Monday to wrap up those talks, the APNU held an internal meeting where it made its own proposals on a number of matters, such as the allocation of seats among the two parties.
Granger has contended that he will not abide by threats and deadlines.
“We should not allow the preoccupation of personalities to derail the importance of seeking an agreement based on principles…the most important principle is that any agreement should be in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana, so that is not subject to deadlines or threats.”
The AFC has been pushing for a fair deal in the new accord.
However, its demands are being contested by the APNU.
One sore topic is the allocation of seats for parliamentary and ministerial postings.
The AFC wants to keep the existing formula but the APNU appears to want a change.
During its meeting on Monday, the APNU said it came up with a “post-election formula for the allocation of seats and recommended an approach for the continuation of negotiations with the AFC in accordance with the core principles already agreed”.
