By INEWS

Copyright inewsguyana

Infighting between the Vigilant People’s Action Committee (V-PAC) and the Forward Guyana took center stage on Thursday, as the two sides have begun clashing over the lone parliamentary seat won by its coalition, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) in the September 1 General and Regional Elections.

V-PAC, which is headed by businessman Dorwain Bess, came out swinging at FGM Leader, Amanza Walton-Desir, issuing a statement accusing her of bullyism, dishonesty, opportunism, betrayal and proverbial theft just one day after Walton-Desir took to social media in a Facebook Live to accuse an unnamed member of V-PAC of threatening her via text message.

According to V-PAC, Walton-Desir has proven “beyond doubt that she is unfit to speak of inclusivity”, while according to Walton-Desir, as a female leader, she will not be tolerating threats, being bullied, or being shouted at.

“Politics is often called a dirty game, and Walton-Desir has shown herself to be one of its dirtiest players,” the V-PAC statement said.

“[Walton-Desir] cannot sell betrayal as leadership. She cannot silence her partners by twisting their words into “threats.” What she has shown is that her loyalty is not to principle, not to inclusion, and not to the people, but to herself alone. Amanza Walton-Desir has bullied her way through this coalition, lied to the public, and abandoned every principle she once claimed to stand for.”

In her video on Wednesday, Walton-Desir, said she was sent a text from a V-PAC member stating “Amanza, I am giving you one last chance to reconcile with VPAC or else.”

“I want it to be very clear that I do not take threats and bullying. He knows himself and that is the last bit of grace that I will offer him,” Walton-Desir said, without naming the individual.

“As a woman in leadership, you do not call me or get into my inbox because you cannot get your way and issue ultimatum that you will burn this bridge and I take it very personally because the symbol of Forward Guyana is a bridge, so I want to be very clear, too many of our women are being lost to abuse and to bullying and to intimidation and you see me as a female leader and you believe that you could come and you could threaten me, I do not take threats.”

According to the V-PAC statement, the party knows nothing of Walton-Desir being threatened. V-PAC says Walton-Desir is hiding “behind her skirt” and “plays the victim”.

Walton-Desir is a former executive of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and its umbrella coalition party the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which she resigned from earlier this year to form the ‘Forward Guyana’ party in June.

In July, Forward Guyana coalesced with V-PAC, which Bess formed in January, and the The People’s Movement (TPM), headed by Lindener and religious leader Nigel London, forming the ‘Forward Guyana Movement’ (FGM).

Walton-Desir was announced as the FGM Presidential candidate while London was later announced as the prime ministerial (PM) candidate.

Walton-Desir is also the Head of the List of Candidates submitted by FGM, meaning she is the only one empowered to write the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to appoint Members of Parliament (MP) for the party. FGM earned 4,332 votes in the September 1 elections to gain its one seat.

According to V-PAC, the coalition members had an understanding that any parliamentary seat won was to be rotated.

“The agreement was simple: the parliamentary seats secured by our combined mandate would be rotated equally among the three partners. That was our pact,” the V-PAC statement said.

Though GECOM had noted that a parliament seat could not be shared between a “Joinder List”, the FGM seat could still be rotated given that the three sides submitted their List of Candidates as a single party and not as three separate parties.

According to V-PAC, they want their share of the single seat. According to V-PAC, Walton-Desir “anointed” herself the sole power broker and divvied up the seats in a 60:40 ratio between herself and London, leaving V-PAC out in the cold.

“The parliamentary seat belongs to the collective. It was won by three parties, not by Walton-Desir the individual. V-PAC will fight for its rightful share of representation. We will not apologise for demanding honesty, inclusivity, and real leadership,” the party said.