There will be NO apology from the Alliance for Change (AFC) for its role in the attempts to rig the 2020 general and regional elections until the party does an analysis of what it did during those elections.

That’s according to AFC leader Nigel Hughes, who tried to quell the public backlash over his refusal to apologize when asked the question at his party’s recent press conference.

“An apology is based on the fact that there is a mistake. I’m not saying we won’t find fault, but when we complete that process of reviewing what we did and didn’t do during our tenure and similarly what we did and didn’t do during the 2020 election. then we can have a discussion about it (sorry),” he said.

A commission of inquiry, together with regional and international election observer missions, concluded that key members of the AFC, who were part of the APNU+AFC coalition, were part of an elaborate plot to rig the 2020 elections.

Three former AFC members, Trevor Williams, Dominic Gaskin and Leonard Craig, and a current member Michael Carrington have publicly said that the APNU+AFC lost the 2020 election and that there were attempts to change the results to deny the PPP/C. her victory.

Hughes, however, claims he is unaware of any AFC involvement, stressing instead that the party will have to conduct an investigation into what he did.

“But when you ask me that question, you’re asking me to prejudge what the Alliance for Change will find in its investigation of what it did before. And at the end of this process, we will have a very clear idea of ​​our steps, missteps and steps that were favorable. But you can’t, at this point, want me to make a blanket apology for the 2020 election,” he said.

Apart from Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, former AFC executive member and minister Dominic Gaskin also called on the AFC to issue an apology for its role in trying to rig the election.

The watchdog groups, which include the Organization of American States (OAS), led by former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, also concluded that there were clear attempts by the APNU+AFC to rig the polls, despite the PPP winning by over 17,000 votes.

“I have never seen such a transparent effort to alter the results of an election,” Golding said.

The APNU+AFC prematurely declared victory in the March 2020 general and regional elections, despite forecasts pointing to a victory for the PPP/C.

Attempts were then made by senior GECOM officials to declare fictitious numbers to give the coalition a victory despite a recount showing the PPP/C won by over 17,000 votes.

After the rigging attempts failed, APNU+AFC quickly went back on its claims to have won the election and engaged in a campaign to discredit the polls, alleging widespread fraud and Russian interference – none of which has been proven ever.