LMAO LMAO

and the PPP's lame reaction?

AFC reportedly surrenders…

Opposition Leader David Granger

AFC/APNU coalition talks:

 

…Nagamootoo likely to be Granger’s No 2

 

The Alliance For Change (AFC) has reportedly ceded its ambition to lead the proposed coalition with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), accepting the number two spot, well placed sources have confirmed.

The party will today make a formal announcement on its position regarding the coalition following a meeting by its Executive Committee. Already, both APNU and the AFC over the past two days have spoken with more assurance that the “marriage” between them would take place.

Guyana Times was earlier told that the coalition talks had been bogged down by disagreements as to who will lead the alliance and up to Friday there was no clear indication as to how this would go. The parties had also not been able to agree on the name for their party and the symbols. This publication was told that APNU has been holding out that it would not change its name and also did not want to give up its symbol.

This newspaper was told that AFC Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo, at the middle of the ongoing negotiations, had indicated that he was willing to serve as Prime Minister in the proposed coalition. Guyana Times was told that his decision did not find favour with AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, who had arbitrarily selected him as the party’s Presidential Candidate for the May 11 election. Observers say that Ramjattan has been trying to stave off possible fallout from his party joining forces with APNU, whose main base comes from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). Already the AFC has come under intense scrutiny for entering talks with APNU. At the formation of the minority Opposition party, they had vowed that they would never join forces with any of the established parties – PNCR and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

 

Optimistic

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference on Friday, Leader of APNU, retired Brigadier David Granger said the coalition was likely to come off. Granger told media operatives that he was confident that a coalition would be born. He noted that talks between the two political parties were very intense and it is hoped that the coalition deal would have been sealed by Friday evening. The AFC has set its National Executive Committee conference for today, where it is expected to update its members on the way forward. However, up to press time last evening, there was no word on the conclusion of the talks.

“I am optimistic. The talks are intense. The two teams have been meeting very frequently over the past days. The APNU’s Shadow Cabinet has been briefed and we are confident that by the time Valentine’s Day dawns in the republic, we would have good news. We are all aiming at the removal of the PPP/C. Both APNU and AFC are convinced that combined action in the form of a pre-election coalition is the best way to remove the PPP/C and I am confident that our team would be working assiduously and putting the entire nation’s interest first. APNU has put the national interest first and we are working towards ensuring that there is going to be a pre-election coalition in this country,” Granger shared.

 

Compromise

Asked whether he was willing to make compromises for the national good, he insisted that both APNU and the AFC would have to make some sacrifices for the good of the country, since it is the country and the people who will have to be served, noting that “partnership of national unity is our main interest – an outcome that is satisfactory to the large section of the country,” Granger added.

He said APNU has been in discussions for over three years in and out of Parliament for various matters. “We are accustomed to sacrifice. We don’t get everything we want; the AFC doesn’t get everything it wants. Most of the time, we see eye to eye and we take action that is in national interest so we understand the need for compromise.”

 

Leadership

Regarding the crucial issue of leadership, Granger dodged specific questions about whether he would be willing to give up the presidential candidacy, since the AFC had demanded the leadership of any coalition as a make-or-break decision. He said that at this point in time, “David Granger was not the important factor, but rather it was the interests of the Guyanese people and as such, decisions would have to be taken accordingly.”

“What I can say at this stage is that David Granger’s fate is in the hands of the APNU’s negotiating team and they are aware of my commitment to establishing a pre-election coalition in the national interest. As far as my personal involvement is concerned, that is not a matter of interest right now. Right now, the national interest is of greatest concern and that is what we are aiming at; that Guyana must have a good government, a government that enjoys the confidence of the majority of the people from day clean on the 12th May,” the Opposition Leader expressed.

 

Party base

Meanwhile, Granger related that APNU’s support base and its membership were fully behind the proposed coalition between the two parties. He attributed this to the fact that the Partnership was itself a coalition and as such, coalitions were part of its history and mandate.

“The feedback is similar to the AFC. It is positive and it is massive. People look forward to the removal of the PPP/C. The parties in APNU have been conditioned to the concept of a partnership of national unity for over a decade. So, as far as the constituency is concerned including the WPA, including the GAP, people have been speaking about joint action for about a decade. So, people are accustomed to the idea and they are looking forward to the coalition. We behave in a way that represents national unity,” he intoned.

On Thursday, AFC’s Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo said its supporters too were in agreement with it forming an alliance with APNU to contest the May 11 elections. Nagamootoo too had expressed confidence that the talks would produce results, noting that both parties were working toward a united country and if they coalesced, it would be the first such coalition in the country’s history. He related that he was quite satisfied with the way things were progressing. Saying that APNU will easily win 40 per cent of the votes at the upcoming elections, the AFC had previously said it could give the David Granger-led coalition the other 11 per cent it needed to clinch a majority at the polls.

The PPP's nightmare has begun.

Despite desperate attempts to divide and rule, the PPP failed to drive a wedge between the AFC and APNU which together secured more than 51 percent of votes cast in 2011.

Definite defeat is staring the PPP in its face.

A government of national unity will materialize on May 11.

Those malicious critics who said Moses Nagamootoo was power-hungry will be silenced.

Nagamootoo acted like a true statesman in ceding the presidential candidate's position to Brigadier David Granger.

Nagamootoo has put the interests of the nation above self-interest.

The Belly wuk start......

Moses and Granger are decent men. It is time Guyana support decent people. They both live modest lives. They are wise. They have older and established children. No thieving from them is expected. The have three core tasks ahead.

1. Do what is necessary to transform the economy.

2. Focus on quality of life issues.

3. Make sure democracy take root and consolidate.

They have to mould a nation we can all be proud of. Congrats to them for pulling this off.

I hope dem bais had fun sharing out Minista wuk, Vice President Wuk, HPS Wuk, PM Wuk, and President Wuk cause the real negotations will happen on May 12, 2015 when they have to figure out whose MP seats to cut from Parliament.

The PPP propaganda failed miserably.

Like cornered rats, PPP advocates will scream and shout, holler and cuss down, assassinate good people's characters and utilize all the nasty adjectives in the English and creolese languages.

Those desperate antics will only alienate the PPP farther from the masses.

"Guyana has won today and that is important. People want this coalition and it has happened." - Brigadier David Granger ‪#‎togetherforguyana‬

indeed, they will overreach again and again and again, and it will turn around and bite them in the ass . . . watch

"It (coalition) is that vehicle which will bring transparency and accountability to this country." - Khemraj Ramjattan ‪#‎togetherforguyana‬

Guyana has indeed won. This is a victory for common sense and national unity.

An utterly corrupt arrogant and deceitful PPP regime will soon be discarded into the dustbin of history.

There is a place in the coalition for those PPP members who are not tainted with corruption and those stalwarts who stayed in the party just to prevent a total Jagdeoite takeover.

The corrupt ones will have sleepless nights from tonight. Their high-class lifestyle will soon end. Some of them will be scrambling to sell off their ill-gotten assets.

I would much prefer AFC going it alone, that said, I believe it's up to the AFC  to prove to the voters why their union with APNU will prove to be a better government than what they now have.

The AFC has to limelight all the positive...forget the negative, the people know this, they see it daily by the GOG.

Those in the PPP/C are their own enemy right now.

International observers, investors and aid agencies will be taking a keen interest in the APNU-AFC alliance.

They know that gridlock will end, corruption will be battled, and political stability will prevail.

Right now, the diplomatic representatives of Britain, Canada and the United States are presumably excited at the news of the Cummingsburg Accord. They won't have to face more feral blasts or pariah treatment from the PPP.

JOINT STATEMENT

"Cummingsburg Accord”

Following weeks of intense high level negotiations the APNU and AFC have arrived at an Accord title the “Cummingsburg Accord” which has been signed by both parties February 14, 2015.

This accord is in respect of their participation in the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections In the interest Guyana and responding to the overwhelming encouragements of both parties membership, supporters and the general public at large; the parties have agreed to the following.

Both parties will contest the elections on a single list of candidates;

APNU will nominate the Presidential candidate and AFC will nominate the Prime Ministerial candidate.

The AFC is assured of 12 seats in the National Assembly (Parliament)

In the construct of a new government the APNU will be allocated one Vice President and AFC two Vice Presidents both of whom will be members of the Cabinet.

In reflecting the thinking and commitment to and for future constitutional reform it has been agreed that the Presidency will be reorganised along the following lines;

1)- The President as Head of State, Head of Government, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and shall have responsibility for; the appointment of Constitutional Agencies and Commissions with the required and agreed democratic mechanisms of consultation and appoint.

2)- Foreign Affairs, International Relations and Non-Commercial Treaties.

3)- National Security Policy, the Defence Board. The Joint Intelligence Committee, the Guyana Defence Force et al.

The President will delegate the following responsibilities to the Prime Minister;

1)- Domestic national Affairs and Chairing Cabinet;

2)- Recommending Ministerial appointments and providing the organizational structures of Ministries for the approval of the President;

3)- Appointment of Head of Agencies and Non-Constitutional Commissions with the required and agreed democratic mechanisms of consultation and appoint;

4)- Domestic Security (Home Affairs)

The Parties further agree that Cabinet positions will allocated on a 60/40 basis between the APNU and the AFC respectively.

Both the Representative of the list and the Speaker of The House will be mutually selected by both parties from independent members of civil society.

This is a historic and watershed political development for our country as this new electoral alliance moves to put Guyana on the correct path, where all Guyanese regardless of ethnicity can feel fully motivated to be proud of his or her nation and is afforded the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the society while successfully caring for themselves and family.

These discussions were not easy and both parties had to give up some of their demands and overcome decades of prejudices for us to have arrived at this most significant and momentous point of national renewal.

The work has just began and we have no time to lose, starting immediately the General Secretaries of both parties will commence the process of combining our campaign teams into one unbeatable electoral machine to secure the victory this country urgently demands of us.

The leadership of both APNU and AFC pledge here today to lead our beloved country into a new dawn of national development, transparent governance, full accountability and invite all well thinking Guyanese to join in this important march as we give Guyana a second chance and to ensure you are on the right-side of history, “We ready for the VOTE”

"Both the Representative of the list and the Speaker of The House will be mutually selected by both parties from independent members of civil society."

Now that is the kind of thinking I like.

  So Gilbakka how many PPP supporters plan to vote for Granger?

Ow bai. Throw the man a lil softball fuss nuh? Ask he how many AFC Indo supporters plan to vote for Granger

Are they not combining the tickets?

Listen all one can expect is that an entrenched dictatorship will be removed.  Hopefully this will then free up civil society that govt SERVES the people and not ENSLAVES the people as have all govt done since Janet Jagan in the early 60s.

To really think that corruption will end, based on the volitions of the politicians is naïve.  We already saw the hypocrisy of the Hughes family on Amaila, and we know that many PNC officials yearn for the ill gotten gains that they see the PPP now getting.

Whether excessive corruption ends or not will depend on whether Guyanese demand that it ends.

I wasn't aware that the AFC controlled the Indian vote any more than does the PPP.  So the 10% of the Indian vote which the AFC obtained last time cannot be assumed to be theirs this time.

Thankfully that's all we've seen thus far (surprisingly) cough cough

Because the only AFC Indo supporters who do exist are educated intellectuals who stopped voting PPP long ago.

The votes that Nagamootoo got last time are PPP supporters who voted for him instead of Ramotar.

Now can any one tell me with a straight face that they will vote for Granger.

So basically APNU controls the show, and outsources some work to the AFC.

Let us see the AFC sell this to the folks in the Corentyne who still have Cheddi's photograph NAILED into the wall.

Caribny seems like you are bitter.....and very upset.

Doan worry pun de odda side got nuff chaps like you just as suicidal.....

The polls I am seeing are saying the AFC can again get 10% of the votes.

And dem AFC Indos (without voting rights) can't even bring themselves to say this is a good political deal much less something they can sell with a straight face at the rum shap where the discussion will be less philosophical and more Coolie v. Negro.

P.S...I personally know and very much like both Nagamootoo and Granger. It's not a matter of personal dislike or like. This is just a terrible deal even on paper (even for something that is unenforceable). But it's principal sin is that it failed to accomplish the whole point of the exercise....to make enough Indos agree to surrender control of the State.

Bottom house campaign about "Nigamootoo" and "black man raping yu daughter" and " conversion of Indians into Christian douglas".  Then show APNU/AFC posters with Granger's face.

I hope that I am wrong but some Indians are going to run right back home.  That is other than those who stopped voting PPP two election cycles ago.

Better hope that APNU gets out the black/mixed alienated people who never vote, or who stopped voting, so that they can return to their 166k turn out. And lets hope that Nagamootoo can woo the Amerindian vote.

Why are you so harsh pon dem bais? They did secure the all important Second Vice Presidency and the Third Vice Presidency

In the next week or two Moses must outline clearly in simple pamphlet how Cheddi Jagan worked hard for a unity government. Print 50000 copies and distribute to every corner of regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

it is amusing but unsurprising that shaitaan and others with ignoble agendas would spend time at this stage speculating on the potential for corrupt behavior of people who have never been in government for the most part

most sane people realize that turnover at the controls of government is a major inhibiting factor for the type of big-time corruption we experience in the state sponsored oligarchic system

what's the point klowns?

It actually raises my respect for APNU who I always thought were a bunch of dummies, with the exception of a few like Carl Greenidge.

They outsource thankless jobs to the AFC, like Ministry of Home Affairs.  They leave the AFC to deal with the Indians (Agriculture) while retaining most of the presidential powers. 

By according the AFC way more positions than they merit, 40% of the cabinet positions and the power to RECOMMEND personnel to fill slots, they appear magnanimous, and so give Nagamootoo an ability to make some think that he has real power.

But he doesn't.

And if Nagamootoo cannot deliver an Indian vote then APNU just shrugs their shoulders and remain the largest opposition party, and no one can blame them for not trying to embrace people beyond its core base.

Clearly the AFC was begging and APNU told them take it or leave it.

Granja cyan do de same ting. Moses and Granja ah now APNU/PNC togeddah. No moe AFC/KFC..abie gat PNC back. 

Let me school you lil chap. But the paperwork that exist in places unknown are best left unmentioned.

It's precisely because of my sympathetic ear and those of my colleagues that they remain in unknown quarters and not gracing the front page of Chronicle.

Can you explain why the Hughes were playing a key role in the Amaila project, and being compensated for this, and only disclosing this when some one (PPP most likely) leaked this to the public.

While this might not be corrupt, it is a clear conflict of interest, and doesn't inspire one to think that corruption wouldn't be a distinct possibility at some point.

My point is that the AFC aren't God, and are no less open to conflicts of interest, or corruption than are others.

Hey hey hey. Like yuh vex dem bai na goh gee yuh minista wuk. Hey hey hey...

I do recall hearing about "Cheddi Blackman", so don't think that even Cheddi wasn't under some restraint on this topic. 

You will note than when he was able to reopen this discussions he refused, instead appointing some bogus group called "Civic".

The AFC will have to acknowledge the ethnic paranoias of both Indians and Africans and sell the idea that there are controls in place to prevent undue rewards directed to either group, or undue punishment for that matter.  They then need to hope that Indians buy it, as they will perceive that they are ceding control of the state to blacks, so might want to know why a PPP gov't will not be a better deal, this allowing them to fully retain control.

APNU found it's Civic in the AFC. Only problem is that APNU's vote bank is still not translatable into automatic government.