AFC to go solo at local gov’t polls

The Alliance For Change (AFC) yesterday announced that it will be contesting the November 12th local government elections on its own following inconclusive talks with its governing coalition partner, APNU.

Coming after months of sporadic talks between the two sides on a deal, the decision will be seen as the most serious strain in the three-year-old coalition since a much earlier attempt by the AFC to curtail the powers of Minister of State Joseph Harmon.

Going alone to the polls will be seen as a serious test for the AFC as many analysts have said that coalescing with APNU in 2015 and not being able to rein it in once in government has resulted in the party losing the support which had first propelled it to five seats in the 2006 general election and seven seats in 2011. It currently holds 12 seats in Parliament following the Cummingsburg Accord with APNU in 2015 and had been hoping for a similar deal for the local government elections in November. However, APNU appeared to have balked at this and was not inclined to grant any more concessions to it.