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AFC bashes WPA member for “unwarranted” criticisms
The Alliance For Change (AFC) strongly disagrees with recent criticisms that it has lost its political conviction and has become an opportunistic faction within the coalition administration.
AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan
These accusations were leveled against the Party by Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance, (WPA) Dr. David Hinds. The WPA is also one of the parties which forms part of the coalition administration of A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change.
Dr. Hinds had documented the said criticisms in one of his recent writings. In an interview, Kaieteur News had asked the University Professor to explain why he had made such a deduction.
The Executive Member of the WPA had explained, “I think they are driven less by the principles which they articulated at their birth and more by what is politically correct. I get the sense that, for them, government has become an end rather than a means to achieve the objectives they originally articulated.”
The political activist had also said that his conclusion is grounded in the fact that the AFC has not tried hard enough to balance governing with a commitment to reform the broken political process.
Dr. Hinds commented, “My party, the WPA is also not without blame. We have not asserted ourselves enough. We have allowed our junior status to dictate the extent to which we try to influence the direction of the government.”
The WPA Executive Member said that he has no doubt that the government has the capacity to do well but the individual parties that make up the coalition have to play their respective roles, assert their principles but reach for consensus.
But his comments did not find favour with the AFC. In fact, that Party said that it disapproves of the regular and unwarranted attacks by Dr. Hinds and stressed that it remains fully committed to Guyana’s change and transformation.
The AFC reminded that it has worked for a peaceful revolution that brought down the former corrupt regime on May 11, 2015 and is still making strenuous and honest contributions towards transforming the society.
WPA Executive member, Dr. David Hinds
The AFC said, “David Hinds has elevated himself to the status of a self-proclaimed critic who sits in judgment of others and shelters under the new freedom which our Coalition Government has afforded and guaranteed him and others like him to express themselves, even as we are informed, in the Editorial columns of the state-owned newspaper.”
The AFC asserted that it is of the view that these criticisms, whether with “hindsight or not”, are unjustified and without any basis whatsoever.
“While we agree that there are still some issues in the Coalition that must be addressed, the AFC would do so in a disciplined and principled manner. We insist that our criticism must be constructive and balanced,” it said.
The AFC stated that it continues to play a pivotal role in Guyana’s politics and has gone down in history on two scores: the tabling of a No-confidence Motion in the National Assembly that was the precursor to political change and, teaming up with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in a pro-democracy coalition.
The AFC admitted, however, that as a fledgling political movement, it ought to do more at the grassroots to build itself into a mass-based party. It also acknowledged that it suffers from both financial and organizational weaknesses.
In spite of these challenges, the Party said that its resolve to help take the Coalition Government forward remains undiminished.
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