We are not changing our names – APNU/AFC

Feb 21, 2015 News

By Nicholas Peters
A week after signing the historic Cummingsburg Accord, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the

AFC Campaign Committee Co-Chairman, Raphael Trotman

Alliance For Change (AFC) have confirmed they will not be changing the name or identity of either party in the pre-election coalition.
The statement was made by co-founder of the AFC, Raphael Trotman, at the first press conference held by the APNU-AFC coalition, yesterday at the Hadfield Street office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Trotman, in his address to the media fraternity, explained that since signing the Accord, the parties have been getting to know each other in addition to fomalising their plans for moving forward in the elections campaign season.
At the media event it was confirmed by Trotman that the coalition’s national campaign office will be situated at the corner of Albert and Crown streets and will be the operation centre. It was further related that the office has been and will continue to be used to prepare party members from both sides and all regions for elections campaigning.
In addition to a campaign office, the AFC member announced that the coalition has set up a National Campaign Committee, which will be co-chaired by Trotman and APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon.
The committee will consist of five members from the APNU and AFC collectively, including Harmon and Trotman. From the APNU side; Amna Ali, Winston Felix, Ronald Bulkhan and Mark Archer, will represent that party.
Meanwhile, the campaign body from the AFC party will consist of David Patterson, Katherine Hughes, Dominic Gaskin and Clayton Hall.

APNU Campaign Co-Chairman, Joseph Harmon

While both parties will be contesting the May 11 General Elections under one banner and as one entity, the AFC member was adamant that the parties will maintain their symbols for the sake of their electorate.
“As political veterans we are quite aware that with the time remaining till Election Day, the last thing we will do is to confuse the electorate with something that is new and unknown,” explained the committee member, “(our) two symbols will feature prominently on the ballot paper and will of course be subject to confirmation to the electoral laws, the Representation of Peoples Act, which sets out how symbols should be represented.”
He assured members of the media that neither party will see their symbol diminish or desecrated in any way as both will be featured prominently in the final symbol for the coalition. The coalition is however; open to suggestions for the unveiling of their official symbol, slogan and theme on March 4.
When asked whether this meant the parties were merging into one, the committee member asserted that that is not the case either way.
“I am not suggesting anything either way. We have experts advising us and we are of course asking the electorate and the people of Guyana to make suggestions, since they are the ones we have to convince. So far we have been hearing that people like what we have (as two parties). They have said that maybe we can put one (symbol) next to the other. They just want to vote and have their symbol represented,” said Trotman.

Current symbol for APNU-AFC coalition

“We are not going to be changing our names at all,” the AFC executive further stressed.
He elaborated that both parties have been listening to their supporters and are comfortable with the feedback they’ve received since collating with APNU. The two parties’ move to coalesce, Trotman explained, was the result of the majority of Guyanese voting for a change in governance in the 2011 elections.
Nevertheless, both parties will maintain their identity as “the name will not make a difference” since the people have already resolved to be against the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) party.
The APNU General Secretary further clarified that the Cummingsburg Accord requires that the parties maintain their individual identity for the integrity of their electorates.
“An important element of the Cummingsburg Accord requires that the parties maintain their individual identity. We considered that people wanted to see their symbol or the party they represented in whatever ballot is going to be made,” said Harmon.
Harmon recalled APNU’s experience in the previous elections when people from that initial coalition wanted to see representation of their individual parties in the official party symbol.
Maintaining the respective parties’ identity was done with the consideration of what their electorates wanted, related the campaign committee member.
“The people said they wanted to see their party symbol in whatever symbol we (APNU) chose,” explained Harmon. He added that that is why this new coalition has both parties retaining their identity, while entering the Election Day with a single slate of candidates.