AFC gears to ‘buck the system’

Mar 12, 2017 News

…for stronger representation of its people
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Newly elected leader of the Alliance For Chance (AFC), Raphael Trotman has his work cut

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman

out for him. The demand is for Trotman to champion a transition that will see the AFC standing strong as an independent and boisterous party while preserving a good relationship with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in order to maintain a “strong coalition.”
But even with such high expectations to fulfill, Trotman, in a recent interview with Kaieteur News, exuded high confidence that he is fit, proper, ready and willing to lead the Party.
The AFC leader who also sits in Cabinet as a senior Minister said that his party’s rank and file members are demanding “a more boisterous leadership.” Trotman claims that the AFC executive, “in its entirety, will respond to that demand.”
The politician said that at the party’s most recent National Conference, the vast majority of AFC’s members voiced that they expect fair, proper and stronger representation. Trotman said that this demand is not a new one.
“The demand was being made for a while, and I think the outcome of the elections is a statement to that effect. People said that we needed to buck the system. So the party is transitioning and it has to be able to the needs of the constituency in a much faster and meaningful way.”
Trotman said that while his people expect the AFC to be close to its coalition partner and to support the work of the coalition, “they also expect us to ensure that the coalition partner supports our work. The intention is to make government stronger, more responsible and responsive to the cries and concerns of the people.”
Trotman said that while it is a heavy task, he and his leadership team are not afraid of – neither do they intend to run away from – the fact that there might be a few ups and downs in trying to strike a balance between maintaining a strong and unique identity while singing harmony in a coalition.
“There will always be requests, sometimes even strident demands, made but each has to be weighed and responded to on its merit, there will be no one size fit all response to this,” said Trotman.
He continued, “But the objective is to make sure that the party is strong so that the coalition is strong. A strong partner in a strong coalition means not to ignore the voices of our members but not to do anything that imperils the coalition by shooting ourselves in the foot.

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