The Alliance for Change (AFC) is a liberal political party in Guyana. It formed a joint electoral list with A Partnership for National Unity alliance for the 2015 elections, serving as a centrist partner in a joint APNU+AFC government.
History The party was established in 2005 by three MPs who left other parties; Raphael Trotman of the People's National Congress, Khemraj Ramjattan of the People's Progressive Party and Sheila Holder of the Working People's Alliance.Stacey-Ann Wilson (2012) Politics of Identity in Small Plural Societies: Guyana, the Fiji Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago, Palgrave Macmillan Trotman became the leader of the party.
In the 2006 elections, the party received 8.1% of the vote, winning six seats. Their vote share increased to 10.3% in the 2011 elections, which saw the party win seven seats.
After the 2011 elections, the combined seats of the AFC and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parties outnumbered the previously dominant People's Progressive Party (PPP). As a result, the APNU+AFC alliance was able to block some of the PPP's policy goals. They threatened a motion of no confidence against the PPP in 2015, triggering the 2015 elections.
For the 2015 elections, the AFC formed a joint electoral list with the APNU. The combined list won 33 seats, a majority of a single seat, allowing PNC/APNU leader David A. Granger to become president.
In 2018, Charrandas Persaud, a member of AFC in the National Assembly, broke ranks with the party to vote in favor of a no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government, resulting in the motion passing by a single vote. Persaud was removed from the AFC and Parliament, and fled to Canada. Six months of legal battles over the validity of the vote ensued, with the result confirmed in June 2019. This led to the 2020 Guyanese general election.
During the 2023 Guayana Esequiba crisis and increased tensions with Venezuela, Alliance For Change called for a ban on Venezuelans with Guyanese citizenship from voting in elections, as well as not granting citizenship to more people from the neighboring country.
Election results Election year Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government2006Raphael Trotman28,3668.43New 3rd2011Khemraj Ramjattan35,33310.32 2 3rd2015David A. Granger 26 1st2020 24 3rd2025Nigel Hughes3,6100.82 9 5th
Elected representatives
2020 Guyanese general election NameConstituencyCatherine Andrea HughesIV-Demerara-MahaicaDavid Anthony PattersonNational Top-UpDeonarine RamsaroopIV-Demerara-MahaicaDevin Lynton SearsX-Upper Demerara-BerbiceHaimraj Bernard RajkumarNational Top-UpJuretha Vanessa FernandesNational Top-UpKhemraj RamjattanNational Top-UpRaphael TrotmanNational Top-UpSherod Avery DuncanNational Top-Up
References
External links Official website