General Secretary of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Joseph Harmon has defended the party’s new batch of parliamentarians, denying claims that it did not consult with its membership.
When contacted on Tuesday, Harmon dismissed the allegations being made by some of the party’s members regarding lack of consultations. However, he did not get into much details, only to say that the proposed list is the best representation of opposition politicians to counter the incumbent.
The APNU’s list of parliamentarians snubs several top executives including Volda Lawrence, Basil Williams, Amna Ally, Aubrey Norton and George Norton.
Some members including James Bond of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNC/R) and Savitri Sharma of the Justice For All Party (JFAP) have come forward to criticise the APNU for not consulting with its membership before nominating those who will represent the major parliamentary opposition in the National Assembly.
The PNC/R, in a statement on Tuesday, said it is time to rebuild the party, explaining that a main criterion for selection of the Members of Parliament was ‘youthfulness’.
The APNU’s new batch of parliamentarians are: Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Dr. Karen Cummings, Annette Ferguson, Nima Flue-Bess, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Dr. Nicolette Henry, Coretta McDonald, Maureen Philadelphia, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Amanza Walton-Desir, Ronald Cox, Jermaine Figuiera, Roysdale Forde, Joseph Harmon, Vincent Henry, Shurwayne Holder, Dineshwar Jaipersaud, Christopher Jones, Vinceroy Jordan, Ganesh Mahipal, and Richard Sinclair.
Meanwhile, the APNU’s coalition partner, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has submitted as its representatives: Juretha Fernandes, Cathy Hughes, Sherod Duncan, David Patterson, Haimraj Rajkumar, Khemraj Ramjattan, Deonarine Ramsaroop, Devin Sears, and Raphael Trotman.
