AFC Biennial Conference postponed to January

Following an announcement last month that the party’s National Conference will be held in mid-December, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has postponed the event to January when several senior positions will be contested.

This is according to Acting Chairman and Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who told reporters at the party’s press conference on Friday that a date is yet to be set for the conference, but the location has been identified.

“For the first time the National Conference will be held in a region other than Region Four and the party considers this to be most historic. Region Three – Essequibo Islands-West Demerara – will host the National Conference,” Nagamootoo announced.

He added that a National Conference Planning Committee has been set up to ensure that the party’s National Conference is successfully hosted. He noted that the AFC regional management committee for Region Three is integrally involved in the planning of the Conference.

Moreover, according to the acting chairman, the biennial conference will see the elections of executive members.

“The National Conference, held biennially, will see the elections of executives of the party. The positions of leader, chairman, vice chairman, general secretary and treasurer are expected to be contested,” he remarked.

However, when asked for names of some of the persons contesting for the AFC top spots, Nagamootoo explained that that information will be with the conference committee and he is yet to receive such.

This will be the first National Conference since the party has been in government as part of the APNU/AFC Coalition.

Last month, AFC General Secretary David Patterson had stated that the conference will see a radical reform of the relations between the ruling coalition partners, the AFC and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), with an independent review of its own affairs.

At a similar news conference six weeks ago, Patterson disclosed that an assessment of the dynamics of the two parties was among the concerns to be discussed at the AFC National Conference, which will be held before the New Year.

“I cannot dictate what the discussions will be, but I can guarantee you that someone will raise the issue of the coalition; the successes or the things which they feel the coalition should do; they would raise the question of the AFC’s shortfalls, if any, what achievements are; they would raise the issues of every Minister’s portfolio in Government.”

Among other issues to be discussed are the AFC’s role and progress in Government and the parties’ fulfilment of the joint manifesto.

“Each and every issue with leadership is put under scrutiny,” the General Secretary emphasised.

The APNU and AFC joined forces with the signing of the Cummingsburg Accord (Valentine’s Day Accord) on February 14 last year with unyielding dedication to change the politics in Guyana, with the country’s first-ever six-party coalition.

However, critics believe that the Administration has fallen short on too many of its promises and has already forecasted nothing but a bleak future, particularly for the AFC group of the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led coalition.

Several political commentators shared the view that the AFC was shafted by the APNU, with many of its inputs in government policies being overlooked or rejected.

Opposition parliamentarians have constantly pointed out that most of the AFC ministers had little or no authority within government and they are consistently being sidelined by the APNU.