Former senior Finance Ministry official assisting AFC
Kaieteur News
April 4, 2007
Former Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Mahase Pertab, is said to be assisting the Alliance For Change (AFC) as the party prepares for its long expected first National Conference where a new executive team will be elected.
Party sources said yesterday that Pertab has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the party and is part of a management team to assist party leaders in preparing for the conference, which is now slated for July.
According to a source, the appointment is an interim one, but Pertab, who was also at one time the Acting Secretary to the Treasury, could retain the position once elected at the Conference.
AFC Member of Parliament, Chantalle Smith last year relinquished the position of CEO.
Pertab had once served as the Deputy Auditor General and Head of the Fraud Squad within the Ministry of Finance.
Contacted last evening for a comment, Pertab, who appeared on the AFC's list of candidates for the August 28 General and Regional Elections, briefly stated that he was supporting the AFC as an alternative movement.
He stated that his role was to prepare the party to build on its structure and to prepare for the upcoming Local Government Elections.
AFC Vice-Chair, Sheila Holder, in a previous interview with Kaieteur News, had alluded to the formation of a management team which will handle the affairs of the party until the conference is held.
The party is expected to outline preparations for the conference and most likely unveil the other management decisions shortly.
Following the holding of the first anniversary General Members' Meeting with representatives coming from all ten regions, the AFC released a document to members nationwide concerning the holding of the first National Conference that was scheduled to be held before the end of the first quarter of 2007.
In the document, it was proposed to members that they form themselves into groups within each of the regions in preparation.
Each group was advised to review the Draft Constitution and related documents and to submit recommendations, amendments, and motions to be considered by the delegates at the first conference.
Amidst some concerns about the present structure of the party, the Conference was seen as critical, since a Steering Committee has been operating as a caretaker since September 2006.
An Alliance For Change (AFC) Region Four Councilor, Michael Carrington had openly voiced concern about how the party is being managed.
He told the media during a press conference that there is no transparency or democratic system in place to allow members an opportunity to contribute to the debate and its development.
However, the AFC has since debunked Carrington's claims as “much ado about nothing”.
The party stated that Carrington knows fully well that the leadership team in place is only an interim measure until the party holds its first National Conference.
The party explained that when it launched at the end of October, 2005, it was impossible in less than nine months to organize for an election which was originally slated for July, 2006, and subsequently postponed to August.
The AFC Steering Committee, in consultation with its members, was given the mandate at that time to proceed with the election campaign as its only priority.
“Everyone knew that this would mean less emphasis, as of necessity, being placed on party form and structure. It was expressly understood that the first National Conference would be convened at an appropriate time after the general and regional elections,” the AFC said in a subsequent press statement.