PNCR responds to AFC proposal, maintains Norton must be presidential candidate

Last Updated on Saturday, 12 April 2025, 9:22 by Writer

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has made a counter-proposal to the Alliance For Change (AFC) for a coalition between the two sides to contest this year’s general and regional elections, sources said Friday.

The source said the AFC was now considering PNCR/APNU’s new proposal of 70 percent-30 percent instead of the original offer of 75-25. At the inception, the AFC had proposed 65-35 but in keeping with its March 30, 2025 decision it said it “will accept a 60-40 split at all levels of government with 60 percent of the positions going to APNU representatives.

The AFC, the sources said, was now faced with the fact that PNCR/APNU would have to make space for a number of unknown parties under the APNU umbrella who would most likely have to be given parliamentary seats or ministerial posts.

The source added that the Speaker of the National Assembly would be drawn from the AFC, but no decision has been reached on which of the two political organisations should provide the Representative of the List of candidates.

The APNU is proposing that it should provide the Representative of the List, not necessarily the presidential candidate. Ideally, that functionary is usually the leader of the larger political party and enjoys the right to identify, recall and replace parliamentarians.

The AFC had proposed that the party from which the presidential candidate is named, shall not be permitted to nominate and/or occupy the position of the Leader of the List.

The source declined to discuss the seniority of ministerial portfolios that could be assigned to elected representatives from both sides. Major ministries in any administration are Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.

The President is responsible for Defence.

PNCR Executive Member Ganesh Mahipaul, who is on the APNU’s negotiating team, declined to provide details about the status of the talks but confirmed that his party had responded. “Yes, we have responded, and our communication between the AFC and ourselves; we are having lots of communication but it remains confidential,” he told a PNCR news conference.

Mr Mahipaul said the PNCR/APNU was maintaining that its Leader, Aubrey Norton would be the presidential candidate unless he alone agrees to cede to someone else.

Though the PNCR/APNU and AFC had agreed to finalise a decision on whether to coalesce by March 31, 2025, that deadline has slipped and now, according to sources, there was no new deadline. The sources said the two parties were communicating largely by email.

If APNU continues to reject AFC Leader Nigel Hughes as the coalition’s presidential candidate, the AFC had said it would propose him as the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate.

City businessman Dr Terrence Campbell, who enjoys close relations with the PNCR, has been touted in some circles as an alternative to the AFC Leader.