Patterson resigns as AFC General Secretary

A split between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) over the election of the Vice Chairman of the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) yesterday resulted in David Patterson tendering his resignation as General Secretary of the AFC with immediate effect.

The two parties, which contested the general and regional elections as a coalition, supported APNU nominee Daniel Seeram for the post of Chairman but they did not appear to be on the same page when each nominated candidates for the post of Vice-Chairman.   

The 15 APNU candidates, including new Chairman Seeram, who cast the deciding vote, supported their own candidate over the AFC nominee at the meeting held at the Bladen Hall school on the East Coast.

Stabroek News understands that in the fallout, Patterson has tendered his resignation as General Secretary.In a September 28, 2020 letter, which was seen by Stabroek News, Patterson wrote Party Leader Khemraj Ramjattan and informed him that it had been an honour to serve in the capacity as General Secretary but he would be submitting his resignation with immediate effect.

“Please note that I remain a member of the AFC, a party which I love and consider to be the best option for the future of Guyana. I will be maintaining my membership in full and will continue to participate in party activities, albeit in a different capacity,” Patterson concluded.

The letter was copied to the party chair, vice chair and management Committee.

Efforts by this newspaper to reach Patterson, Party leader Khemraj Ramjattan and Executive Member Catherine Hughes proved futile but this newspaper has been reliably informed that an agreement existed between the two coalition members to support an AFC candidate as Vice Chair.

A similar situation obtained in Region Seven, where APNU member Kenneth Williams was elected Chair and Kamala Persaud of the AFC is the new Vice-Chair. The coalition holds eight of the 15 seats in that RDC while the PPP/C holds six and the Liberty and Justice Party holds one.

However, just after 10 am yesterday, when 34 of the 35 members of the Region Four RDC took their Oath of Office and settled in for the Council’s first meeting those elections did not go to plan.

When nominations were opened for Chair the APNU+AFC nominated former Guyana Defence Force Captain Seeram while the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) nominated Deoraj Nauth. Seeram won the post after the 20 APNU+AFC Councillors supported his nomination. Nauth secured the 14 votes from his party members.

As he took control of the meeting it became clear that the new chairman would not have an easy time. An unidentified PPP/C councillor belligerently interrupted Seeram as he greeted those present and demanded that the process to elect a Vice Chairman be concluded before anything else.

Seeram ignored the interruption and opened the floor for nominations. The PPP/C nominated Desmond Morian, while the APNU+AFC nominated Samuel Sandy. Surprisingly a second nominee emerged from the ranks of the coalition—Neilson McKenzie.  Sandy is a member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the main constituent of APNU, while McKenzie is a member of the AFC.

When it was put to a vote, 14 APNU+AFC councillors voted for Sandy and five voted for McKenzie. Since the PPP/C nominee also secured 14 votes, the Chair was forced to cast the deciding vote.

Speaking with Stabroek News after the meeting, Seeram explained that he chose to cast his vote for the coalition nominee with the most votes.

He explained that he was honoured to have been elected to serve the Guyanese people and noted that his first priority is working with all stakeholders to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in his Region and offer relief to all Guyanese affected by the current pandemic.

Expressing the hope that he can secure bi-partisan support, Seeram said that he will also work to foster social cohesion and promote national unity.According to results published by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), a total of 201,575 votes were cast in the Region at the March 2nd polls. Of that number 116,403 were cast in favour of the APNU+AFC, securing the coalition 20 seats, while 81,276 were cast in favour of the PPP/C who secured 14 seats. The final seat was won by Change Guyana (CG) with 1,442 votes. The gazetted councilor for CG, Clifton Joseph was absent from yesterday’s meeting. His presence could have further complicated https://www.stabroeknews.com/2...c-general-secretary/ voting for the Vice-Chairman

THE FAILURE OF THE COALITION.