Beverly Alert confirmed to replace Trotman as AFC MP

Alliance for Change (AFC) Executive Member Beverly Alert will replace Raphael Trotman, who will tender his resignation as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the new week.

This was confirmed by the party’s Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan, during a virtual press conference on Friday. Asked specially about Trotman’s replacement, Ramjattan said, “I want to let it be known that it will be Beverly Alert.”
He explained that there were a number of factors and criteria the party considered before selecting Alert, “to ensure that we get the best of persons”.
“Beverly passed all those tests,” he said.
The AFC, via a press statement on Wednesday, announced that Trotman would be resigning as a MP in the new week to allow for rotation and space for new leadership training. While a party source on Thursday told <<<Guyana Times>>> that Alert was the preferred choice of the candidates under consideration, the source said that the party’s committee would meet soon to make a decision.
Parliament is currently in recess and is expected to resume sitting in early October, by which time the AFC will have Alert sworn in as a MP.
Alert has been a long-standing member of the AFC and is currently serving on the party’s National Executive Council (NEC).
Under the previous A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/AFC Administration, she served as Head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) as well as Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources.
She was also named as a potential candidate for the membership of the new Public Procurement Commission (PPC) earlier this year, but, unfortunately, did not make the shortlist of five.
In that statement, the AFC said Trotman, the party’s co-founder, would officially resign from the National Assembly, honouring a commitment he had made previously to step down as a MP in this – the 12th – Parliament.
“Mr Trotman had indicated before the staging of [the AFC’s] National Conference that he would not be available for nomination as he would be resigning mid-term in the life of the present Assembly, which commenced in 2020, to allow for rotation and space for new leadership training,” the party said.
Trotman has been a MP since 1998, entering the National Assembly under the People’s National Congress (PNC). He then left the party to join forces with current Leader Khemraj Ramjattan to form the AFC, which won several seats in the National Assembly in the 2006 General and Regional Elections.
Trotman also served as Speaker of the National Assembly in the 10th Parliament in which the Opposition AFC and APNU, collectively, held a majority of the seats from 2011 to 2015. The AFC went on to coalesce with the PNC-led APNU to contest and win the 2015 elections.
Under the APNU/AFC coalition Administration, Trotman served firstly as Minister of Governance and then as Minister of Natural Resources. The AFC said it was proud of the work that Trotman has provided over the years as a valuable member of its team, and in particular, his work as a Member of Parliament.
The AFC added, “Mr Trotman has served as a Member of the National Assembly continuously from 1998 to present, and during that time, has been the 10th Speaker of the National Assembly, and served on many Standing and Select Committees including – Constitution Reform, Security, Foreign Affairs and Natural Resources, and contributed to the passage of scores of critical pieces of legislation.”
During his tenure in the National Assembly, Trotman also led several parliamentary delegations to international conferences and meetings in the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Peru, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Barbados, Mexico, and New Zealand, among others.
But even with his resignation, the party said Trotman remains a vital member of the leadership of the AFC. It said that he will remain a member of the NEC of the AFC and continue to provide counsel to the leadership of the AFC on a range of national and regional developments. He will also continue to render his expert counsel on the nascent oil production sector.