AFC+APNU MoU debacle more evidence of disunity, confusion – Dr Jagdeo

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has criticised the recent agreement between the Alliance for Change (AFC) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition ahead of the 2025 general and regional elections.

On January 20, 2025, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led APNU and the AFC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to officially renew their partnership ahead of the 2025 general and regional elections. The MOU was signed by PNCR Leader and APNU Chairman, Aubrey Norton, and AFC Leader, Nigel Hughes.

However, within hours of the MOU being signed, AFC Leader Hughes held an rushed news conference on January 21, 2025, revealing that the agreement was “on life support” after details of the MOU were leaked to an online media outlet.

The PNCR-led APNU and AFC have set a deadline of March 31, 2025, to decide whether they will jointly participate in the 2025 General and Regional elections. However, following the events of this week, it remains uncertain whether the PNCR-led APNU and AFC will continue their collaboration as outlined in the MOU.

Dr Jagdeo said that this reflects the disunity and confusion that plagues these opposition parties.

“I think it’s tragic, but in a way, it’s also comic that two seemingly serious political parties that were partners for such a long time, moments after they signed an agreement, they would say that it’s on life support,” the GS said.

He suggested that the MoU may be a desperate plight by the AFC to cling to the People’s National Congress for the slightest modicum of credibility at the 2025 polls.

Meanwhile, on Hughes’ reluctance to disclose specific details about the MoU and, when questioned about its contents, Dr Jagdeo mused that Hughes may have been hesitant to reveal any details of the MoU for fear of revealing its “uncanny” similarities to the 2015 Cummingsburg Accord.

The General Secretary reminded that the 2015 accord, which bound the two parties as a Coalition, had outlined the sharing of government spoils between the parties. “They never kept any of the provisions of the accord. They spoke about helping people and all sorts of things. They betrayed what they signed so they didn’t want this document to come into the public domain again,” he pointed out.

The GS said that the two parties structured this new agreement in two phases, the first of which establishes a joint platform for them to campaign for the upcoming elections, and the second phase involves the division of the “government spoils”. “They can talk as much as they want, because they’re not going to win,” he proclaimed.

Dr Jagdeo said that the Guyanese people can see right through this façade, as it is an old playbook the opposition is repackaging as a “new and improved” front.  The General Secretary further criticised Hughes’ proclamation that there are “new faces” in the party. He argued that these are the same members that were present when the Cummingsburg Accord was signed.

“It’s the same old cabal doing the same old thing and hoping they can pull wool over the eyes of the people of this country,” he said.

Dr Jagdeo also pointed to a potential tussle between the two parties as both Nigel Hughes and Aubrey Norton are likely to vie for the position of presidential candidate should there be a coalition.

“We heard prior to their signing of the agreement that the AFC met over the weekend and they selected Nigel Hughes use as their presidential candidate, and I suspect that was to put some pressure on the negotiations and to stake a claim, maybe in the future, to that position, should there be a coalition,” Dr Jagdeo noted.

He recalled that PNCR leader Aubrey Norton’s position that should there be another coalition, the presidential candidate would have to come from his party.

On January 22, 2025, Norton responded to the leak by accusing the AFC of being responsible for it, suggesting that the AFC was attempting to derail the discussions.

On January 21, 2025, Hughes also argued that Norton had not been chosen to lead any APNU/AFC alliance in the upcoming elections. He stated, “There has to be a mechanism for identifying leadership if it gets out of life support and back on track. That process has to be based on scientific methods, such as polls and other criteria.”  When directly asked whether Norton, as Chairman of the APNU and Leader of the PNCR, would take a leadership role in a potential coalition, Hughes firmly responded, “Absolutely not. The short answer is no.”

Norton fired back on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, asserting, “I will be the presidential candidate as determined by the PNC, as the largest political party in the coalition. I find Mr. Hughes’ comments on the presidential candidate unnecessary at this stage… we will continue to engage whoever is engaging with us.”

“From the PPP perspective, we don’t care too much who their presidential candidate is, because they’re going to lose the elections in any case,” the GS stated.