The recently formed political coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has acknowledged its failure to attract any new large groups.
APNU member Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
At a news conference on Thursday, August 18, APNU member Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said while they would like to see large groups coming on board, the partnership will not discriminate against smaller parties.
“Our preference would be really for substantial organisations to come in; but, frankly, we are not in a very discriminatory mood,” he said in response to a related question, noting that the partnership would prefer for trade unions, professional organisations and others to join.
“There are a lot of people who are prepared to support us quietly outside, but we need them in,” he added.
However, Dr Roopnaraine remains optimistic that there would be a change closer to the elections date, as APNU has organised an influencing activity.
“We are expecting, very soon, an encounter being organised with people of civil society and the APNU leadership, before the end of the month; and we are hoping that at that encounter civil society organisations and active citizens will be meeting with us,” he revealed.
The partnership’s founding members are the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Working People’s Alliance (WPA), the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the National Front Alliance (NFA).
Only the Guyana People’s Partnership (GPP), Guyana National Congress (GNC), the Emancipation Trust, and Guyana Association of Local Authorities (GALA) have joined APNU since it’s formation.
“We like to think of ourselves as an expanding partnership,” Roopnaraine said, while adding that APNU remains open to other interested partners.
Meanwhile, APNU is yet to sort out several other important issues including the selection of the representative and deputy representative of the list, and the prime ministerial candidate. The latter, Dr Roopnaraine said, is not constitutionally required. He noted that the other obligations are being pursued despite the delay.
He acknowledged that despite promising to name the leadership by its formal launch, APNU is yet to do so. APNU is now working out how it will proceed with placing names on the lists, considering its new partners. According to him, the compilation of the various lists “is not a matter without some complexity”. Meanwhile, Dr Roopnaraine was quizzed about the recently concluded claims and objections period that saw the processing of more than 7,000 new registrants.
According to him, APNU and its partners played their part to ensure that those unregistered persons with source documents were mobilised, and that the scrutineers were in place.
He added that the Guyana Elections Commission is yet to honour its obligation under the recently amended legislation to circulate the new list of registrants to political parties. This aside, Dr Roopnaraine commented on the commission’s level of readiness.
“Speaking to GECOM and the chief elections officer, they seem confident that all matters are well in hand. They are on track, they see no great hazards ahead, and we should expect a smooth process between here and November 7,” he added.
November 7 is the earliest date possible that GECOM indicated it could be ready to hold elections, and according to the WPA co-founder, APNU will be ready then.
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