AFC leader Raphael Trotman has denied recent accusations that he scuttled an attempt to form an opposition coalition prior to the last general elections, while saying that national interest would guide the party’s approach to possible electoral alliances.
According to Trotman, the country is too small and struggling with limited and dwindling resources to believe that any one group has every solution within its base. “We have no choice but to engage,” he said in an interview last Thursday.
Trotman has recently been criticised by WPA Programme Manager Desmond Trotman and Unity Party leader Joey Jagan, who have both blamed him and the party for scuttling an attempt to get a ‘third force’ movement off the ground in the run-up to the last general elections. In particular, Desmond Trotman charged in a recent letter (Stabroek News, May 6, 2010) that the AFC leader was responsible for the false accusation that the PNCR, the WPA, the Unity Party and Vision Guyana signed an agreement at the US State Department to contest the 2006 general elections jointly. In the letter, Desmond Trotman said at a meeting of the representatives of the proponents of the Guyana Third Force, GAP leader Paul Hardy announced his party’s withdrawal. “[He] gave as his reasons for doing so an agreement which he alleged was discussed and signed at the US State Department by Rupert Roopnaraine, Peter Ramsaroop, Joey Jagan and Robert Corbin, which bound the WPA, Vision for Guyana, the Unity Party and the PNCR to contest the 2006 General and Regional elections as a collective. Hardy went on to state that the person who provided GAP and ROAR with the information was Raphael Trotman of the AFC, who had indicated to them that he had obtained a copy of the agreement from a high official in the US State Department.”
Further, the letter contended that the false accusation was responsible for the withdrawal of the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the Rise Organise And Rebuild (ROAR) Guyana movement from the Guyana Third Force platform they had previously supported.
Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News that while he had tremendous respect for Desmond Trotman and Joey Jagan as well as those named in the letter, the charge was startling. He said he and Desmond Trotman had engaged each other at different levels since the last general elections but the letter was the first time he was aware of the accusation. “It has taken me by surprise,” he said, noting that it could have been cleared up through a phone call. “I know of no document that he is speaking out… I find it a bit preposterous.” According to him, the suggestion that a group of parties would sign a document at the US State Department is a very serious development, especially given the implication that a foreign government made the parties sign a compact. Trotman added that he was not present at the meeting, but emphasised that he knew nothing of any agreement. “It is so preposterous and unbelievable, that I can’t believe that Desmond Trotman would say that but if that is what is reported at the meeting… [but] it sounds quite childish and immature and I can’t believe that big men and women would have believed that such a thing was happening or had happened… Quite frankly, if the US government was putting together this dream team, I would have wanted to be a part of it but this was the first time I am hearing about this.”
Jagan, meanwhile, blamed the collapse of the Guyana Third Force on what he dubbed the “sheer ambition” on the part of the AFC, “which destroyed the fabric of the third force.” According to Trotman, in a country with very limited and dwindling human resources, individualism cannot define political action. “We have no choice, it is imperative that we reach out and reach across and build a team comprising the best that Guyana has to offer,” he said. “Those of us who are still here and those of us who are prepared to come back.”
He added that despite scepticism about its longevity, the AFC has demonstrated that it can survive. The party is not perfect, he said, adding that no one and no party is. However, he maintained that there is room to work together and it is for this reason that the AFC has refrained from demonising anyone. “We will no doubt pursue relationships with other parties and personalities within parties to try to build a ‘dream team’ in essence that can face the next elections,” he said.
Recently, Trotman said that the AFC accepts that alliances are imperative and that the parties in opposition have to decide whether they want to remain in opposition in perpetuity or whether they believe they can go together to challenge the PPP. However, when asked about the possibility of an alliance with the PNCR, he ruled it out. Asked about the criticism that his comments at that time indicated ambivalence about the issue, Trotman explained that after he left the PNCR, the party was vicious and has never reached out to him. “I maintain there are people within the PNC that I can work with but, as an institution which tried to destroy me, I don’t see myself at that institutional level. I have nothing against certain persons but I am wary of some others,” he said. He added, “I would say anything is possible but we have not been approached by anyone from the PNC. There are no discussions ongoing but naturally, if there was an approach, we would have to, at a party level, entertain it.”
According to Trotman, the AFC has a responsibility as a national party to give serious consideration to any approach for an alliance. He was confident that the party would be at the receiving end of overtures from other parties, including the ruling PPP before the next elections are held. “We have to listen to all and decide what is in the national interest and what is in our best interest,” he explained, “To just say, unequivocally, beforehand, that we will never speak to the PPP or PNC would not be wise.” Trotman said this was his view on the issue, since the party has not articulated a position as it has yet to be approached. He said it will know the position of its ‘rank and file’ membership, which will ultimately have to determine how to proceed. He said conjecture on the best approach would continue until the party receives a serious gesture. “If the approach is sincere and serious… we would have to go to the membership with it,” he said. “Our main concern is that no one wants to see the AFC lose its identity,” he said. He further noted that the party’s principals came from the main parties and therefore it should not close the door entirely to associations. He said the party would have to look at how other parties in the region and in other countries have grappled with the issue. He did, however, emphasise that the AFC would not sacrifice the national good at the altar of preserving self. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, it is what is in the national interest, that is why we are in politics,” he said, later describing the coalition government formed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the UK as an example of a programme that put the nation ahead of individual interests. “So, if we can find a programme for the next five years and we can work, not only political parties but hopefully with civil society, I believe we can build a strong, credible team to contest the next election,” Trotman said.
He added that there appears to be an enabling environment for opposition success. According to him, the haemorrhage within the opposition is starting to slow, while there has been a turning away from the ruling party in large numbers. “It is possible but a lot depends on the platform that the opposition parties put up,” he explained, adding that apart from personality there would be a need for an inclusionary approach to groups, like young people.
Trotman said the recent writing about the subject is a sign that it is under active consideration. In this regard, he felt that exorcising the demons of the past is good, so that there could be a definitive position in order for the parties to telegraph the political landscape. He added that he believed that the governing party is going to call early general elections, based on increased activities on the ground. “So we might very well… be forced to do something sooner rather than later,” he said.
