FGM says not looking for joinder, WIN says willing, able and searching

With just one day left to submit joinder list intentions to the Guyana Elections Commission, options are narrowing with the Forward Guyana Movement having ruled out any partnership, while We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) says it will continue discussions until the last possible moment.
Speaking with the Sunday Times on Saturday, FGM presidential candidate Amanza Walton-Desir cheerfully noted that her party has had no discussions with any of the other political parties about a possible joinder list and does not expect any to begin.
Meanwhile, in a separate telephone interview, WIN Deputy Representative Odessa Primus confirmed that the party is currently in discussions with other political parties about the submission of a joinder list.
“We are open to a joinder list,” Primus affirmed. “We’ve had discussions about it but nothing solid. But the discussions are ongoing.”
Primus noted that she did not want to name which party or parties WIN is in negotiations with about the joinder but noted that WIN feels confident about contesting the elections whether it joins with another party or not.
“We prefer to take it down to the minute if need be. If we come to a consensus before then, great, but if not, then we are great either way,” Primus noted.
Under Guyana’s proportional representation (PR) electoral system, a joinder list allows for two or more parties agreeing in advance of the election to pool their votes together for the purpose of seat allocation after the election. The parties remain independent during the campaign, and voters vote for each party separately, but when seats in the National Assembly are calculated, their votes are combined as one.
A total of six parties have been approved by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to contest in the upcoming elections, which also includes the Alliance for Change (AFC), the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP).
Last Friday, the presidential candidate for APNU indicated that his party was not in any discussion for a joinder list; however, the AFC are shopping around to join up with anyone that will take them.
A representative for the ALP party could not be reached.