Defeat in elections is not even a consideration – Granger

The newly-formed coalition of Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has stricken from its mind, any thought of a possible defeat in the upcoming May 11 polls.

Presidential Candidate, David Granger and Prime Ministerial Candidate, Moses Nagamootoo

An extremely confident Presidential Candidate of the pre-election alliance, David Granger, told reporters on Saturday last that the partnership has not contemplated losing. He was at the time responding to questions on what would be its contingency plan, if it is saddled with discouraging results after E-day and if it loses, whether it would seek a divorce from the AFC. But it was his assertive dismissal of thoughts of being crushed at the polls, which interested his attentive audience. Granger said that there is a tide in Guyana. He opined that based on his outreaches throughout the nation, Guyanese “badly” yearned such a coalition. He emphasized that the electorate does not want five more years of the People’s Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C). “We are confident that we are going to win on May 11. As far as the PPP/C is concerned, we have closed the door on winner-takes-all politics. And what we have done and are saying to you now is that if an alliance means we have 52 percent of the votes, we will not lock out 48 percent of the people. That is my promise to you,” Granger firmly asserted. He stressed that the same mistake of the PPP/C will not be made again. His Prime Ministerial Candidate, Moses Nagamootoo, then endorsed his new partner saying that, “We are not here to lose, and this is the winning team here.” As it relates to courting some top PPP/C officials who may be interested in joining the APNU-AFC coalition, Nagamootoo said that the party’s door is always open. He emphasized that “unsavoury characters” would not be accepted. The Prime Ministerial candidate said that, it’s not about vendetta but it is looking for people who will bring integrity and respectability to the table. AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan was also asked by Kaieteur News how he intends to now sell the idea of a coalition, given that he previously stated that his party would not enter any coalition if it was not in the leadership position. He said leading the pro-democracy coalition was of course, its maximum position, but during the process of negotiations, it was unable to attain it. However, due to the fact that there has been a tremendous climb in the powers allocated to the Prime Ministerial post, Ramjattan asserted that it was deemed an acceptable proposal, hence they signed on, and its initial position, shifted. He added, “I am a lawyer and I start at very high standards when bargaining, and I knew it was going to be a hard bargain. Indeed it has turned out to be this, and it is the best product we had arrived at, and it is acceptable. It is viable and it will be the vehicle which will bring the accountability and transparency we, and the supporters, want for the country.” The politicians were also faced with questions of how other members will be selected for its Cabinet, what concessions APNU and the AFC had to surrender, and how finances for their election campaigns would be approached. Granger expressed that both parties will invite nominations and recommendations, look at the list of candidates and design a list of criteria so that citizens of quality can be selected. At the end of that process, he said, the newly-joined opposition parties will have a shortlist. The politician said that both have agreed that there will be a consensual process where it will agree on the Speaker and the representatives of the list. Granger reaffirmed that while both sides went to the bargaining table with certain expectations, he does not feel that there is any virtue in “raking over the coals” now to see who won and who lost. “Guyana has won today and that is important,” he stressed. The Opposition Leader said that this is the first time in the history of Guyana there will be a multi-party, pre-election coalition that is committed to Article 13 of the Constitution, which speaks to inclusionary democracy. As far as finances are concerned, he said that the two parties will have a combined campaign finance committee and the 60/40 formula will be used. He explained that this simply means that APNU will be bringing 60 percent of the finances. He expressed that many donors were waiting for this to happen and were not prepared to commit themselves to one party. Granger said, however, that their marriage with the AFC has convinced its hopeful donors and assured that they would now come forward. In their agreement, Granger said that the Prime Minister will be delegated certain responsibilities, such as chairing the Cabinet. But the Constitution dictates that the President is the chairman. Granger noted however, that this would not be a problem, for as the President he would be able to delegate certain responsibilities to the PM. The Presidential Candidate for the newly-formed coalition said that prior to Saturday, APNU had on its own, decided to launch on February 20,  its election campaign. But given new arrangements, he said that time will now have to be taken to review that date, as it is more appropriate to do a single launch. Regarding symbols and colour schemes to represent the new relationship, General Secretary of the AFC, David Patterson said that that is still to be decided. Both sides are yet to discuss who will hold certain top constitutional spots. Granger also noted that the reintroduction of the Vice President position is to reinforce the principle of representation and national unity.