After months of talking: PNC/APNU & AFC still deadlocked on terms for coalition

… “we ain’t going to let nobody take their eyes pass we” – Norton

Despite months of negotiations, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) remain deadlocked over the terms of a coalition for the 2025 elections, with the choice of presidential candidate for a coalition Government remaining at the forefront of the stalemate.
The two parties, which previously coalesced for the 2015 and 2020 elections, had set a March 31 deadline to finalise an agreement. However, as the deadline passed on Monday, disagreements persisted. Though both sides attempted to present an optimistic outlook, statements and comments from members of either side continue to suggest little progress toward a mutual agreement.

On Saturday, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader Aubrey Norton, whose party is the largest faction in APNU, made it clear that the PNCR would not accept what he described as disrespect or external dictates given that the PNCR carries “the burden of the work”.
Delivering remarks at the PNCR General Council Norton told the gathering of PNCR members that: “We ain’t going to let nobody take their eyes pass we. I want to make this commitment to you that this party will not allow anybody to ride on our backs. We are prepared to engage and be reasonable but we are not prepared to bend over backwards.”
In response, on Sunday, the AFC published its conditions for a coalition, including the demand of a 40-60 split of Government positions in APNU’s favour, that Hughes is the Presidential Candidate, and that the presidential candidate’s party should not hold the Leader of the List position, which controls parliamentary appointments and removal.

Contradicted
However, Hughes himself contradicted the AFC’s stance just days earlier, saying he was open to stepping aside for a consensus candidate. The AFC has repeatedly voiced distrust of APNU and opposes Norton as the presidential nominee, instead suggesting businessman Terrence Campbell. Earlier reports had also noted that PNCR economist Elson Lowe was being considered as an alternative.

The AFC and APNU first joined forces in 2015 under the Cummingsburg Accord, revised in 2019 with fewer concessions for the AFC before expiring in December 2022. The coalition won the 2015 elections but lost power after a no-confidence motion in 2018.
Originally, the AFC held a 40 per cent stake in the coalition, which was reduced to 30 per cent in the 2019 revision. The party’s declining influence was reflected in its poor performance in the 2018 local Government elections and its perceived role in the no-confidence motion’s passage. Following their 2020 election loss, the APNU/AFC alliance officially ended in December 2022.
In January the two sides had set March 31 as the deadline for negotiations on a partnership, after Hughes described those negotiations as being on life support. Norton had noted that there is a possibility the talks will have to go beyond that date.