Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said that the Alliance for Change (AFC) – the smaller party of the incumbent coalition – is now being dealt the same card by President David Granger as was done to the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) with the selection of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman back in 2017.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
“We heard now that Granger will decide which ministries AFC gets and we [had] heard from the Stabroek News report that the candidate for PM (Prime Minister) must not be unacceptable to Granger. And you know, in a way, I’m so happy that this happened to the AFC. It’s not bad mindedness but they were cheering on Granger when, of the 18 names that we submitted to him to choose the Chairman of GECOM, he claimed that they’re all unacceptable and then chose someone that he wanted and that was ruled subsequently unconstitutional by the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice). And they were cheering him on so much…,” Jagdeo stated at the Opposition’s end-of-year press conference on Monday.
APNU leader David Granger and AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan at the signing of the revised Cummingsburg Accord on Christmas Eve day at State House
The Opposition Leader went on to point out that in the initial Accord, the coalition had an independent person as the head of its list so as to ensure that both partners, particularly the minority AFC, get what is agreed to.
“…They’re a coalition, so the head of the list should not be a member of either party because they’re a coalition, just to make sure that the Accord was met. Granger seems to be the head of the list now so [the AFC] don’t have any guarantees there…,” Jagdeo posited.
However, during negotiation stages to revise the Cummingsburg Accord, the coalition partners had been at loggerheads over several issues. The agreement will expire next month and as such, the APNU and AFC spent weeks last year renegotiating a new deal.
Reports had circulated during those talks that the minority party may not receive the same portions it once enjoyed, having lost its advantage.
The APNU/AFC coalition was toppled by a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in December 2018 when AFC parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud, crossed over and voted in favour of the Opposition-tabled motion. This, coupled with the AFC’s poor performance at the November 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE), did not give the party much to take to the negotiations table.
One area the coalition partners were battling over was the selection of a Prime Ministerial candidate.
The 2015 Cummingsburg Accord saw the APNU getting the Presidential post while the PM candidacy went to the AFC. As such, the AFC went ahead and selected its leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, at its National Executive Conference (NEC) back in June to be Granger’s running mate at this year’s March 2 General and Regional Elections.
However, despite teams from both side negotiating terms for revised Accord, APNU’s leader, David Granger, had declared in November that he will be deciding on a PM candidate who can deliver the best results at the upcoming polls.
Nevertheless, a final high-level meeting late November saw the parties coming to a final agreement, which resulted in AFC retaining the PM candidacy but left with a smaller share of the pie than it went in with.
The 2015 Accord had catered for the APNU to get 60 per cent while the AFC gets 40 per cent of the allotments of the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Regional Democratic Council (RDC) posts. However, it was reported that AFC was handed only 30 per cent of the allocations, which leaves its majority partner with 70 per cent.
This means that should the coalition win the upcoming elections in March 2020, the AFC’s seats will be slashed by 25 per cent when compared to its allotments agreed upon in the original Accord.
Last week, the APNU and the AFC went ahead and secretly signed a revised Cummingsburg Accord on Christmas Eve but it was not with the same fanfare as 2015 since the media was not invited.
Details of the revised Accord were not released to the public. In fact, when this publication contacted Ramjattan on the matter, he disconnected the call.
However, when contacted, Director General of the Ministry of Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who led the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) negotiating team during the initial stages of the Accord’s review, did confirm that as per the revised Accord, the AFC’s nominee will be the PM candidate.
But it was previously reported that while Ramjattan’s candidateship was accepted by the APNU, he will not be assuming the presidential post should it become available.
Asked if the party was happy with the Accord that was signed, Harmon noted that as they signed, it was indicative of them being satisfied with the terms. According to the APNU General Secretary, the Accord itself embraces principles of constitutionalism and the experiences shared over the past few years.
