“Absolutely not” – Nigel Hughes on Norton leading APNU & AFC into elections; as two parties hold coalition talks

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) have signed a new agreement on Tuesday as the two parties explore the possibilities of once again coalescing to contest the upcoming General and Region Elections slated for later this year.

While these discussions are in the early stages, the AFC has shut down the PNC-led APNU Leader, Aubrey Norton, leading the coalition into the elections.

“Absolutely not,” AFC Leader Nigel Hughes stated in response to a question during a press conference on Tuesday evening about whether Norton would take the two parties to the upcoming polls.

He added, “The short answer to that is no… Assuming that [a coalition is agreed to by the two parties] …there has to be a mechanism and a process for identifying the leadership. For us, that process has to be driven by scientific means – polls and other criteria. If and when we get there, I’m sure we’ll address that.”

At its congress in July 2024, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the largest political party in the APNU faction, passed a resolution that the party’s leader must be the presidential candidate for the next elections and that only he can decide otherwise.

Back in December, Norton had stated that he was qualified to lead the opposition party at the upcoming polls but noted that criteria would have to be set out to select a potential presidential candidate.

While the AFC Executives believe that the party has what it takes to contest the polls on its own and have already selected Hughes as its potential Presidential Candidate, they are still engaging other political parties for possible coalition.

One such party is its former coalition partner, the PNC-led APNU. On Tuesday, the two parties signed an exploratory agreement as they discuss a second coalition partnership.

According to AFC Chairman, David Patterson, this is a two-stage process with the first phase dealing with policy issues and the second would deal with the presidential candidacy. He noted that they are currently focusing on the first stage.

However, Hughes posited that this agreement between the AFC and APNU is on life support, adding that trust and confidentiality are high priorities for any coalition his party enters into.

“The present agreement, that is, the agreement between ourselves and APNU, which we signed [on Tuesday] is on life support… Trust and confidentiality, for us, are particularly important,” the AFC Leader stated.

The two parties have since appointed negotiators to continue these talks until March 31, when a decision is expected.

APNU and the AFC had joined forces at the 2015 elections, which they won but the relations soured by the end of their term in office with the AFC branching out to do its own political work. In the past, the AFC had been criticised for playing a submissive role to the APNU.

But according to Hughes, this will not reoccur this time around if a new partnership deal is struck.

“AFC is a different party under different leadership… I certainly believe that we will be very, very committed to our positions we make publicly as well as out positions private and most importantly, our commitment to the people of Guyana…”

“We are guided by our experiences in the past but we’re not going to be burdened by them… I did say [our agreement] is on life support so we’re very keen to learn the lessons of what has happened before and I have a personal responsibility to ensure that they are not repeated,” Hughes declared.