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The AFC has to get off its knees when dealing with APNU!
The latest email leaks reveal that one member of the Alliance for Change advised the President of Guyana not to choose any of the names on the second list submitted by the Leader of the Opposition and, instead, to go with a unilateral appointment of a Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.
The revelation does not establish a case that the AFC had any part in the choosing of a Chairman. It simply told the President to not pick anyone from the second list. This in no way can be construed as giving the AFC a role in picking the Chairman.
What is most interesting about the revelation is that this alleged discussion during which the advice was rendered to the President, took place during a Cabinet break. This is what the AFC has been reduced to.
Major decisions in politics are made in and outside of toilets. There is nothing wrong with an AFC member sharing his political opinion outside of the washroom. What is wrong is the disrespect that the AFC is encouraging. It should have demanded then and there that it was prepared, notwithstanding the advice that was given, to sit down and have formal consultations with the President on the matter.
The AFC is not any ordinary party in the coalition. The President himself has said that the APNU has an agreement with the AFC. In other words, it is a principal party to the Cummingsburg Accord, which led to the formation of the APNU+AFC coalition.
That agreement gave the AFC some benefits above that of its electoral strength. It is inconceivable for anyone to be serious in arguing that the AFC brought 40% of the votes to the coalition. It most likely brought about 12% but got 40% of the seats in the National Assembly, and in Cabinet.
The AFC therefore should demand to be treated as an equal partner. The President should have held formal consultations with the AFC. A discussion during a restroom break does not constitute a formal consultation.
The AFC should be ashamed to be saying that it gave advice on the appointment of Chairman during a toilet break of Cabinet. That was a chit-chat which can never substitute for formal consultations.
The AFC has to get off its knees when dealing with the APNU in the coalition. It is not a minority party in the coalition. That role is already occupied by a number of small parties with negligible electoral following such as the Working People’s Alliance.
But what is disconcerting is that the PPPC has said that the AFC was witness to an agreement it had with the President that if no one fit and proper was found on the third list, a committee of the government and the opposition would be formed to examine names.
If the AFC knew that this was the agreement, why after the second list did it urge the President to go ahead and make a unilateral appointment? Why did it not wait to see what names would emerge from the third list, and if that failed, what the committee would arrive at? It shows the duplicity of the AFC.
It leads one to the conclusion that all the AFC was interested in, was embarrassing the Leader of the Opposition.
If this is indeed the case, then the AFC should really play no further role in the politics of this country. It cannot be trusted to demand respect from APNU, and it is being devilish in its approach towards the main opposition.
Perhaps there is poetic justice involved when the AFC can be asked its opinion outside of a washroom.
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