APNU, AFC locked in battle over formula for parliamentary seats

Last Updated on Friday, 15 November 2019, 6:24 by Writer

AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan (left) and Chairman of the People’s National Congress-dominated A Partnership for National Unity, David Granger.

The Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) are yet to agree to a formula for allocating parliamentary seats after the March 2, 2020 general elections, with APNU Chairman, David Granger and AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan set to meet again next week Monday.

The two political leaders are yet to agree on how their coalition’s winnings would be divided between the two political parties, according to high-level sources from both parties.

Sources from both sides said both parties have basically reached agreement that Ramjattan, the AFC’s nominee for the prime ministerial post, would be Granger’s running mate.

Indications are that the AFC would retain ministerial portfolios for Public Infrastructure, Public Security, Natural Resources and Telecommunications. There is some uncertainty over whether an AFC parliamentarian would be assigned ministerial responsibility for Agriculture.

Granger and Ramjattan are due to meet again next Monday, as they seek to hammer out a revised political agreement titled the Cummingsburg Accord which was signed at the Georgetown Club in North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, on February 14, 2015.

The AFC is also reportedly interested in a number of diplomatic postings.

AFC Chief Negotiator, David Patterson is already on record as saying that APNU and AFC have decided to put the allocation of local government seats on the back-burner until after next year’s general and regional elections.

The Cummingsburg Accord does not cater for local government elections, but the AFC had expected that APNU would have used the 60-40 formula in a gentleman’s overture to contest the 2016 and 2017 local polls.