AFC designates Nigel Hughes as its Presidential candidate

…party still exploring potential coalition partners – Chairman

The Alliance For Change (AFC) has announced that its leader, Nigel Hughes, but with there still being some uncertainty about whether the party will be going to the General and Regional elections expected in 2025 solo or as a coalition, this announcement has raised questions.
In a statement on Monday, the AFC announced that it had concluded the first meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) for the year. During this meeting, the party had comprehensive discussions and came to the unanimous decision that Hughes will be the party’s Presidential candidate.
“A comprehensive discussion and review of GECOM was conducted as the Party prepares to meet the organisation later this week and submit its recommendations. The meeting included presentations from Chairman David Patterson and Party Leader Nigel Hughes and reports from regional groups highlighting political issues.”
“Of significance, and subject to formal confirmation by a National Conference to be convened just prior to General and Regional Elections, was the unanimous approval given for Party Leader, Nigel Hughes to be designated “Presidential Candidate” for the AFC as the Party enters into a formal campaign mode,” the party also said.
It was also announced by the party that they had preliminary discussions on possible coalitions and alliances, discussions which were chaired by the party’s co-founder, Khemraj Ramjattan. According to the party, they will continue these discussions.
“Two motions mandating party executives to continue to engage in discussions on coalition possibilities for the AFC’s contest of the 2025 elections, the establishment of campaign committees and consideration of representatives for the National Assembly and Regional Democratic Councils, among other bodies, were all examined and approved,” AFC added.
There had been discussions in the public domain over who would be the Presidential candidate if AFC were to reunite with its old coalition partner, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), since Opposition and People’s National Congress (PNC) leader Aubrey Norton was designated as their Presidential candidate since last year.
Following his election as leader, Norton had said that PNC was considering contesting the 2025 General and Regional Elections independently. And while he had indicated that he would be willing to step aside as the party’s presidential candidate for someone who may have more electability, he had made it clear that any new presidential candidate must be someone from within the PNC.

No decision
When contacted on whether Hughes’ designation as Presidential Candidate meant the party would be going solo or not, AFC Chairman David Patterson noted that Hughes’ designation is no indication that the party will not be coalescing with another party.
As a matter of fact, Patterson assured that the party is still exploring its options, alluding to their previous meetings with A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and the Guyana Action Party (GAP).
“Why APNU? We’re talking to everybody. We speak to all stakeholders. We’ve met with GAP. We’ve met with ANUG, as you would have seen. We’ve met with several other parties already,” Patterson said.
APNU, whose largest member is the PNC, had merged with the AFC in 2015 for the elections that year. The two parties had also jointly contested in the 2020 elections. However, AFC formally broke its coalition with APNU back in December 2022.
The revised Cummingsburg Accord, a political agreement between the two organisations, had provided for this separation. At the time, Former AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan had indicated that the two political organisations would do their political work separately but work in parliament jointly.