Continued implosion of APNU: another “cardboard partner” out

…WPA claims non-consultation by PNC

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) – a member of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Coalition – has withdrawn its support for the David Granger-led Coalition.

In a letter to Granger, WPA Secretary Tacuma Ogunseye said that, since the formation of APNU, there has been an active sidelining of the smaller parties. That has caused the WPA to, on many occasions, air its grievances both internally and publicly.
Granger – who is also leader of the PNCR – was told that his Party’s behaviour leaves much to be desired, since it continued to make major APNU decisions without proper consultations.

The WPA said violation of the principles of Coalition politics has threatened to dismantle the APNU on several occasions, but very little have been done to address it.
“In other words, we have had to live with PNC’s decisions being imposed on the rest of the APNU. Unfortunately, although the Coalition is now out of power, nothing has changed for the better within the APNU,” the letter stated.
Ogunseye noted that throughout the life of the APNU, the WPA, to its detriment, has done everything within its powers to ensure the survival and success of the APNU, and by extension the coalition. The accommodating positions it assumed on critical issues which it would normally condemn have exposed the party both internally and externally to the worst kinds of criticisms imaginable.
He said it has become very clear, even to the WPA’s most hardline supporters of accommodating the PNCR’s transgressions, that it can no longer be business as usual within the APNU. On that note, he remined that the WPA’s contribution to APNU has been relatively formidable.
Though the Party has very limited material resources, it played a critical role in forwarding the principles of the Coalition, as well as jointly crafting the APNU’s manifesto, campaigning, and even defending the party during the electoral impasse.
The five-month electoral impasse was created by the APNU/AFC coalition and its agents over its unsubstantiated claims of winning the March 02 polls.
WPA noted that Coalition Politics is necessary for the survival of Guyana as a viable nation-state, and in pursuit of that objective, it has made the ultimate sacrifice of neglecting the replenishing of its party in deference to the unity and viability of the APNU.

“Unfortunately, leaders of the PNCR have not been similarly disposed. So, we continue to witness their bludgeoning of their APNU partners even at a critical time when togetherness is required,” the Party stated.
Ogunseye, in the letter of withdrawal to Granger, stated: “To our utter embarrassment, not for the first time the WPA was informed by the media that APNU had decided on its representatives for the next National Assembly. It was only after we sent a letter to you enquiring about the state of affairs that we were informed by the General Secretary of the PNCR (Amna Ally) that the Chairperson of the WPA is one of the selected persons. This, of course, was done without any engagement with WPA, thus denying the party an opportunity to determine who its representative should be. We view this as uncomradely, disrespectful, insulting, a gross disregard for principle, and therefore unacceptable.”
This is the second coalition partner which has called out Granger for dictatorial behaviour and non-consultation with APNU partners.
On Tuesday, General Secretary of the JFAP, Savitri Sharma, accused Granger and the PNC of using and discarding the smaller parties.
“We feel that we were used when they needed us, and now that they don’t need us, they kicked the small parties out under the pretext of saying that we are cardboard parties. We were the parties which caused APNU to go into Government. If we were not there, APNU would not have been in Government. So, they stood on our backs to climb to where they were, and now that they got there, they don’t have need for the support there any longer,” Sharma said during an interview with Guyana Times.
JFAP, which is led by Chandranarine Sharma, had a seat in the last Parliament, which his son Jaipaul Sharma occupied. Mrs Sharma said that, as a member of the APNU, their party was never consulted in the crafting of the list, and several correspondences to the PNC went unanswered.

Removal of nominees
The WPA requested that the names of its two nominees for Parliament and the Region Four Regional Democratic Council seats be removed from the APNU’s list.
“For the record, WPA notes the non-allocation of parliamentary seats to the other small parties. If this is indeed the case, the development has changed the electoral image of the APNU, and in the process, has effectively destroyed the organisation’s election franchise. The time has come when the WPA is forced to draw a line in the sand and say that enough is enough,” Ogunseye said.
Following the announcement of the Parliamentary List for the Coalition on Monday, there have been criticisms from both the PNCR and smaller parties over the non-consultation by Granger. Granger, however, said he consulted, and the best list was crafted.
To that, the WPA stated that there is no recognition of the rights of the partners to contribute to the decision-making process of the APNU. The party said that it is not for the Leader or the General Secretary of the PNCR to determine unilaterally the allocation of seats to each member party of the APNU for Parliament, RDC and NDC.
“Mr Granger, we are convinced that there will be no significant attitudinal changes within the APNU on the matters raised above, and those which must engage the attention of the organization and be corrected if it is to regain the Government at future elections. It is this conviction and the circumstances referenced that WPA feels it can no longer remain a member of the APNU,” WPA stated.
However, the Party said it is open for reconciliation, but outlined a number of conditions. Among those conditions are the insistence that the WPA be immediately accorded the right to determine who its representative on the APNU list to the National Assembly should be; that principle be enshrined in the APNU Charter’; and that the recommendations of the Corbin Report be implemented.
Should the second and third conditions be met within the next two months, the WPA would revisit its decision to leave.

Granger’s list
Granger, who heads the APNU/AFC election lists, unilaterally selected the APNU Members of Parliament without consulting the small parties.
The APNU/AFC Coalition secured 31 seats at the March 2 General and Regional Elections, and awarded nine of those seats to the AFC faction while the APNU took 22. The party released its list of MPs, and the representation from the smaller parties in the Coalition is grossly lacking.
The APNU list consists of PNC members: Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Dr Karen Cummings, Annette Ferguson, Nima Flue-Bess, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Dr Nicolette Henry, Coretta McDonald, Maureen Philadelphia, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Amanza Walton-Desir, Ronald Cox, Jermaine Figuiera, Roysdale Forde, Joseph Harmon, Shurwayne Holder, Dineshwar Jaipersaud, Christopher Jones, Vinceroy Jordan, Ganesh Mahipaul, Richard Sinclair; WPA’s Tabitha Sarabo-Halley; and GAP’s Vincent Henry.
Following the announcement of the list, several heavyweights from the PNC – namely, Chairwoman Volda Lawrence, former AG Chair Basil Williams, General Secretary Amna Ally – were absent. Granger explained that they were focusing more on the youth in the party, and hence he, along with the senior leadership was not returning to the National Assembly.
However, this did not sit well with several members in the PNC – especially former MP James Bond – who went on a tirade against Granger on social media. Bond criticised that PNC and its current leadership for not consulting with the party’s membership before making its decision on the parliamentarians.
APNU was formed to contest the 2011 General and Regional Elections, and consists of the second largest political party in Guyana, the PNC, along with Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Guyana Association of Local Authorities (GALA), the Guyana National Congress (GNC), the Guyana People&#39s Partnership (GPP), the Guyana Youth Congress (GYC), the Justice for All Party (JFAP), the National Democratic Front (NDC), the National Front Alliance (NFA), and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). (G2)