Too early to say if AFC will contest 2025 elections alone – Hughes
Newly elected leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes
Kaieteur News – Newly elected leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes believes it is too early to determine whether his party will contest the 2025 General and Regional Elections independently or as part of a coalition with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). Hughes told reporters on Saturday at his party’s 8th National Conference held at the Revealed Word Christian Centre, William Street, Kitty.
“I know that question comes and it’s too early (to say). The first thing the Alliance For Change has to do is rebuild its strength. It has to achieve heights that it has never previously achieved in terms of its electoral strength and when the time is right, we will make that decision,” Hughes said.
The AFC leader firmly stated that his party will not be forced into making that decision at this point since he feels that the time is not appropriate.
“The first thing we have to do is, we actually have to conduct an examination of why we did so badly at the last elections and then take guidance from there,” he disclosed.
Hughes on Saturday secured a landslide victory to become leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), out performing Sherod Duncan. Hughes, who is the first non-founding member of the party to become leader, gained 149 votes, while Duncan received 62.
While delivering the charge to the delegates and observers, Hughes urged the Party to undertake a comprehensive review of its performance in office to examine the missteps which lead to its loss of office in 2020 so that it can take the lessons from the past in crafting a pathway to the future.
“I am very humbled by this, seriously very, very humbled. I believe that there comes a time when the ancestors say to you, this is it. I think that’s what happened here. I thank everybody; I just want everybody to also know that my competitors are no longer our competitors. I am inviting them to join my team to make sure that they continue to promote the Alliance For Change,” Hughes told reporters after the announcement of his victory.
