Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
“It is a slap in the face” – James Bond on Volda Lawrence not making APNU+AFC parliamentary list
People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) member, James Bond, has expressed his disappointment that the name of the party’s Chairman, Volda Lawrence, is noticeably absent from the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) list of parliamentary candidates.
“It is a slap in the face of women who worked hard for this party,” Bond said, noting that the former Health Minister raked in the most votes for the March 2020 Elections.
While no official list has been published by the party, an article by the online news outfit News Source, carried a purported list of candidates with the names of a number of PNC/R big wigs absent.
To this, Bond took to Facebook to air his thoughts on the issue.
In an invited comment to Kaieteur News, Bond said, “This is someone who won the Chairmanship of the party and this is an immensely popular person in the party; this is no fly by night (person), and then you’re gonna leave her out of Parliament?”
A former Parliamentarian himself, Bond said the move is essentially “a slap in the face of the entire membership of the PNCR.”
Explaining his stance, he said, Lawrence holds many hats including Chair of the PNC, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and he also added that the former Minister is the holder of a Master’s Degree in Accounting.
The move to exclude Lawrence, according to Bond, shows that there is no longer a system of “meritocracy” where you get rewarded for your hard work.
He continued, “…we are looking for strong leadership and we end up with inept, ineffectual, out of touch and aloof persons. I don’t think…if we are looking to rebuild, you can start by breaking up the party,” he added.
On August 4 last, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had dispatched a letter to the respective political parties for the submission of names for Guyana’s 12 Parliament.
With the elections seeing the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) having majority 33 seating, the APNU+AFC has to split up its 31 seats between APNU and AFC representatives.
So far, as per the article, APNU has selected Executive Roysdale Forde, Geeta Edmonds, Amanza Walton, Ganesh Mahipaul, Ronald Cox, Vincenroy Jordan along with Vincent Henry and Coretta McDonald.
PNC top members such as former State Minister, Joseph Harmon; former Education Minister, Nicolette Henry; former Foreign Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings and former Minister of Communities, Annette Ferguson, are also included on the list.
Further, Christopher Jones, Jermaine Figueira and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley are also included. So far, the party has been tight-lipped on who would function as Opposition Leader.
AFC’s pick
Meanwhile, in a statement late last evening, AFC confirmed their top candidates for Parliament, citing that they represent “a balance of experience and youth.”
As per the revised Cummingsburg Agreement, the party announced that after a rigorous process undertaken by its National Executive Council, nine candidates were selected.
The AFC’s list sees former Telecommunication Minister, Catherine Hughes, along with former Infrastructure, Minister David Patterson; former Business Minister, Haimraj Rajkumar; APNU+AFC’s Prime Ministerial Candidate; Khemraj Ramjattan; along with former Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, making a comeback.
A number of new faces including Deonarine Ramsaroop, Devin Sears and Juretha Fernandes were selected. Sherod Duncan was also selected.
Also, the AFC noted that Executive member Valerie Garrido-Lowe has expressed a desire to serve in the Party’s rebuilding process and not in Parliament.
According to the party, it is committed to the rotation of seats where, midterm, “deserving members” will be considered to replace seated Parliamentarians from the initial list.
The remaining seat goes to the tripartite Joinder, which has selected Presidential Candidate for The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lennox Shuman, as their pick for parliament.
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