“Likely” to support Granger as presidential candidate in upcoming polls
AFC backtracts
Days after saying that it was too early for the party to take a stance on the matter, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is likely to throw its support behind leader of the PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger, as the presidential candidate for the APNU/AFC at impending national and regional elections.
A recent report in the State’s newspaper had identified President Granger, who just returned from Cuba as he continues treatment for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, as the presidential candidate for the APNU/AFC coalition.
However, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan told Guyana Times in a brief telephone interview on Sunday that while the coalition partners have not had formal discussions on the matter, he personally supported the return of President Granger as the face of the coalition at the upcoming polls.
“I support him fully as presidential candidate, personally… [but] we haven’t gone there as a collective,” Ramjattan said.
However, he noted that the AFC would be hosting its first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on January 26 and the matter was expected to come up for discussion there.
“We’re having our national executive [meeting] and certainly you’ll have me supporting him there… But of course, I anticipate [there will be support for President Granger]. I don’t think of anybody else with the quality of statesmanship as him,” the AFC Chairman asserted.
This newspaper was unable to question Ramjattan, who cut short the call, as to whether Moses Nagamootoo would be returning as the prime ministerial candidate for the APNU/AFC or whether there would be a new face submitted by the minority party in the coalition. At the party’s first press conference on Wednesday last, Vice Chair Cathy Hughes said it was too early for the party to say whether it would support a Granger presidential candidacy.
“We’re not there yet right now; we’re absolutely not there right now. We hoped that President Granger continues the speedy recovery that he’s making … We continue to wish him the best, [but] we have no idea when the elections is going to be and so we’re not in a position to answer that right now,” Hughes had stated.
While there has been no official public statement from the APNU camp, President Granger last year had indicated the possibility of him returning as presidential candidate for the coalition.
“… I am a servant of my party; I’m a servant of the Partnership; I’m a servant of the coalition and my duty is to serve and I will not run away from service; that is as much as I can say… I have to bear in mind that my elevation to the presidency was as a result of popular support, it was a result of democratic processes and I will not abandon those processes…,” the Head of State told reporters at a press conference in August.
Since then, however, President Granger was diagnosed in October with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and is seeking treatment in Cuba, which requires him to travel back and forth between the two countries. In fact, he returned to Guyana on Saturday evening after undergoing his fourth round of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
