The biennial National Conference of the Alliance for Change (AFC), due to be held this month, has been postponed as the party’s leadership brainstorms ways to hold the gathering while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.
“It has been postponed because of COVID-19 and a number of other factors. Our General Secretary and the other leading members will decide when we will have it,” AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan told Sunday Stabroek when contacted.
Asked whether a committee has been established and provided with a timeline for the decision, Ramjattan said yes but maintained that its membership and parameters of operation are not public information. “Those are, more or less, confidential matters for our leaders and members,” he stressed.
Attempts to reach General Secretary David Patterson for further information proved futile.
The National Conference is used to elect the AFC’s leadership. The party is currently a part of the main opposition coalition APNU+AFC, which was voted out of office last year.
Last November, Patterson announced that the conference would be held in July 2021. At the time he indicated that he would be relinquishing his positions as GS and a parliamentarian.
“At this conference all leadership positions including that of the General Secretary will be up for elections. I have agreed to remain at General Secretary until the National Conference, under the understanding that my time will be exclusively dedicated to refocusing the energies of the AFC,” he explained at the time.
Additionally he indicated that a process had begun to identify a suitable replacement for him in the National Assembly.
“I had previously indicated that my seat should be rotated, thus allowing for newer members to gain experience in the Parliament. This position remains,” he said.
Patterson had submitted a resignation from both posts in September after a split between APNU and the AFC over the election of the Vice Chairman of the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
There has been no update on any of these announcements.
