Monday is last day for Cummmingsburg Accord talks – AFC

According to Mr. Gaskin, there is just one item remaining for the two sides to reach agreement on and that has to do with the formula for the allocation of seats in the Parliament and on the Regional Councils as well as Ministerial portfolios.

Monday is last day for Cummmingsburg Accord talks – AFC

The Alliance For Change today announced that next Monday will be the last day for the renegotiation talks with A Partnership for National Unity on the Cummingsburg Accord.

Party Treasurer Dominic Gaskin at an AFC press conference today said one deadline has already been missed and the AFC does not intend to extend the deadline beyond Monday.

According to Mr. Gaskin, there is just one item remaining for the two sides to reach agreement on and that has to do with the formula for the allocation of seats in the Parliament and on the Regional Councils as well as Ministerial portfolios.

“The AFC has agreed to a final meeting with APNU on Monday 18th November 2019, at which a single outstanding matter is to be resolved. All other terms of the Accord have been provisionally agreed”, Gaskin said.

The AFC officials did not want to provide details of the meetings with the APNU and the formula issue that they will be addressing on Monday.

News Source understands that the APNU is pushing for a 70:30 formula in seats allocation, while the AFC which initially wanted the original 60:40 formula to remain, is now pushing for a 63:37 formula. In all of the scenarios, the APNU walks away with a larger number of seats.

Mr. Gaskin said the negotiation will continue on Monday and he is confident that an agreement will be reached to move the partnership forward.

The Cummingsburg Accord is the agreement that brought the two parties together for the 2015 elections, which they won as a coalition.

Deputy General Secretary of the party Lennox Craig said the AFC is getting into battle gear for the upcoming elections and prefers to head into those elections with its coalition partner the APNU.

He appeared confident that the one issue that is still to be worked out will be overcome on Monday.

According to Craig, “AFC is battle-ready and we desire a partnership with the APNU. It is the preferred way to go in these elections. And we are battle-ready and with or without our partner, we are ready to go”, Mr. Craig said.

He noted that the AFC has already completed a manifesto and will be opening new offices for the elections across the country.

The AFC leaders said it is unlikely that they will be going without their coalition partner but they will remain in preparation mode.

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