Cummingsburg Accord still in force – AFC’s General Secretary

Jun 18, 2019 News

General Secretary of the Alliance For Change (AFC), David Patterson, who was recently re-elected to that position, is insisting that the Cummingsburg Accord remains in force.

A copy of the last page of the accord which details the time frame.

The accord is the official agreement which spells out how the AFC and its coalition partner- the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU)- would share governance if they won the May 2015 elections.
It was signed on February 14, 2015 by President David Granger, leader of APNU and Khemraj Ramjattan, the leader of AFC.
However, it appeared from the copies of the agreement that a small error has been made– the date Granger signed was on February 14, 2014- obviously an error.
The issue of whether the accord remains in force has been raised in recent days.
With Guyana facing a possibility of heading to early elections with a number of decisions on the no-confidence vote of December 21, set to be handed down today by the Caribbean Court of Justice, the accord has become live again.
Yesterday, Patterson posted a copy of the last page of the accord. He said that he was one of the authors.
That last page said that the accord is a sunset agreement with a minimum life span of 36 months and a maximum of 60 months, or for such time within the time period previously stated as decided by the dispute resolution committee adjudicating on its life.
“It is accepted that these arrangements will govern the relationship of the participating parties in both the pre-and post-election periods, for the duration of the 11th parliament,” the accord said.
The Coalition had won the May 2015 election by a slim, one-seat majority but their term in office is under threat from the no-confidence which has been challenged in the courts.