Former AFC General Secretary throws support behind PPP/C

Former Alliance For Change (AFC) General Secretary Sixtus Edwards has declared that he will be supporting the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration in the upcoming General and Regional Elections slated for May 11.

In an interview with this publication, Edwards said he was now putting his support behind the Donald Ramotar Administration and stressed that he had no intentions of returning to the AFC which he described as a party that lacked principles.

“I am saying very clearly that I have nothing to do with the AFC!” he declared. Edwards stated that he left the AFC because of the inconsistencies with their principles.

He outlined that the party went back on some of its core values, including the fact that it promised to never coalesce with any party.

“Those core values that they promised are not there anymore, it has left the AFC so I decided to resign… The AFC said they would not coalesce with either party, but I see that has changed. I see they go back on their words and go back on the thing they said they won’t do, which is to be in a coalition,” Edwards highlighted.

The former AFC General Secretary was at the time responding to comments on social media by AFC activists that he wanted to return to the party.

Edwards condemned as nasty and vile statements being made by AFC activist Mark Ross, in Berbice. Ross appeared to be trying to discredit those persons who helped build the AFC but decided to walk away of recent, mostly citing the coalition with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as the main reason.

Edwards explained that sometime last week he had visited his mechanic of 15 years, who happened to be located next door to an AFC office on the Railway. He noted that he subsequently saw comments on Facebook that he was in the area, spying on the AFC and that he wants to return to the party.

Edwards pointed out that he had even publically declared his support for the Ramotar Administration during a televised programme in Berbice recently.

“I did say to the people (in Berbice) that they must vote for the PPP/C. It does not make any sense to go out there and waste your votes when these members of those parties (the Coalition) are not looking out for the interests of the people or the nation. All they want to do is to grab power and I don’t think that’s the way to go,” he mentioned.

Edwards added that he was a political animal and can handle whatever the AFC threw at him but would not sit quietly and watch as they attacked his character.

The former member reiterated that despite joining the party from the beginning and serving as the General Secretary when he handed in his resignation, none of the AFC executives contacted him to get any further explanation or even tried to discourage him from leaving the party.