President of Guyana and Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger on Wednesday said that while he would like to see the Cummingsburg Accord continue, the decision lies solely with the Alliance for Change (AFC).
The Cummingsburg Accord was announced on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14, 2015, by APNU and AFC as the culmination of sustained negotiations that would delineate the distribution of power in the government to be formed if their consummated coalition were to win the imminent elections.
Granger, at the side-lines of an event held at State House today, noted that Accord could last for a minimum of 3 years –which would expire today, February 14 2018- or a maximum of 5 years- expiring February 14, 2020.
However, he posited that to date, he had received no word from the Leader of the AFC, Raphael Trotman, regarding the situation.
“I have not received any word from the Leader of the Alliance for Change” he said, while assuring that “the Partnership for National Unity, which I lead, has had several meetings and in the event that the Alliance for Change would like to meet to discuss, we are quite prepared.”
Nevertheless, he asserted that there is no “compulsion” for the Accord to be reviewed.
“… The Alliance for Change has several options, to allow the accord to proceed as it is proceeding at present, it can allow it to expire in 2020 or it can make a request for the meeting” said the President.
In mid-November 2017, the top leadership of the AFC had decided to revise its governing agreement with coalition partner, APNU. This decision was taken after the AFC – the smaller of the two factions forming the Government – was accused of being coerced and bypassed by its larger partner.
