AFC Leader Declares Party Has “Moved On” from APNU Alliance Ahead of 2025 Elections
By Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News
Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes, made it clear during a Friday press conference that the party is no longer interested in rekindling its former alliance with the Partnership for National Unity (APNU), as Guyana prepares for the upcoming 2025 General and Regional Elections.
“We have moved on, and we are heading straight to the elections,” Hughes asserted, signaling an end to any hope for renewed coalition discussions.
The once-powerful APNU+AFC coalition, which governed Guyana from 2015 to 2020, was officially formed through a 2015 accord and renewed in 2019. That agreement expired in 2022. Hughes noted that even before his formal return to politics, the National Executive Committee of the AFC had passed a resolution not to renew the accord.
Since assuming leadership of the AFC in 2023, Hughes says he made attempts to unite the party by inviting now-defectors Sherod Duncan and Juretha Fernandes (also referred to as Jet Finance) to serve on the Management Committee and National Executive Committee. However, those overtures did not lead to collaboration.
Hughes recounted that after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties during previous negotiations, both sides appointed representatives. He highlighted that the AFC’s delegation included its two surviving founding members, along with Caribbean political strategist Austin Stowe from Jamaica.
Hughes said the breakdown in talks stemmed largely from APNU’s insistence on pushing forward a presidential candidate already selected by its internal congress—an approach not shared by the AFC.
“The Alliance For Change never had such a position,” Hughes emphasized, suggesting that APNU’s rigid stance left little room for true coalition-building.
With Nomination Day fast approaching and elections scheduled for September 1, 2025, the AFC appears to be charting an independent path, distancing itself from its former political ally and signaling readiness for solo electoral participation.
