Formal engagement of AFC, APNU still in limbo

Revising Cummingsburg Accord

– as party leader promises again to dispatch letter today

While the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Alliance For Change (AFC) had mandated that its leadership approach its coalition partner on issues of vital importance to the party, such as the Cummingsburg Accord; this has so far not been done.
Guyana Times made contact with the AFC’s General Secretary, Marlon Williams, but was unable to get clarification on the issue. When contacted, AFC heavyweight and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan referred this publication to AFC Leader Raphael Trotman.

Ramjattan noted that it was Trotman, the Natural Resources Minister, who would be responsible for penning the letter. When contacted, Trotman admitted that this had not been done, but promised that the letter would be finalised and sent today (March 5).
“There is a letter, which will be finalised tomorrow (today) and sent off shortly. I won’t be discussing the contents of the letter. I believe everything that needed to be said is there. But I won’t be discussing the contents,” Trotman related.
President David Granger, who is the Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the AFC’s coalition partner, has hinted that there is no immediate need for the Accord to be reviewed, although he has given his party’s commitment to going through the process.
“All I can say at this point in time is that there is no compulsion that the Accord be reviewed… (The AFC) can allow it to expire in 2020 or it can make request for a meeting, but the A Partnership for National Unity is committed to coalition politics and I would say that the advent of the coalition into Government has been good for Guyana – we are better together and we would like to see the Accord continue,” Granger had stated.
In January, Trotman had told reporters at a press conference that the party has already identified a team that would represent its interest in talks with APNU. The Cummingsburg Accord Review Committee (CARC) has eight members comprising Dr Vincent Adams, Dr Rohan Somar, Marlon Williams, David Patterson, Joel Edmond, Sherod Duncan and one representative each from the party’s Women for Change and Youth for Change.
In mid-November 2017, the top leadership of the AFC had decided to revise its governing agreement with its coalition partner, APNU. This decision was taken after the AFC – the smaller of the two factions forming the Government – was accused of being coerced by its large partner.
There have been reports that the AFC was not too comfortable with the current Cummingsburg Accord, which sets up how the two coalition partners would divide up the Ministries.
Under the current configuration of Government, the AFC has received the portfolios of the Prime Minister, Public Security Ministry, Public Infrastructure Ministry, and the Agriculture Ministry, among others.
The AFC’s NEC has mandated that the party’s leadership formally write to APNU with regard to the review and revision of the Cummingsburg Accord.
Trotman had committed to doing so to initiate discussions. But several months have passed and Trotman is yet to write APNU. This process was expected to be completed by the third anniversary of the signing of the Accord, February 14, 2018.
The Cummingsburg Accord has a lifespan of a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years, and was focused primarily on the General and Regional Elections. As such, President Granger said the AFC has several options, including allowing the agreement to proceed as is until its expiration in two years’ time.