Govt proposes split of two PPP stronghold regions for tallying votes

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2022, 22:28 by Denis Chabrol

A section of the attendees at the public stakeholder consultation on electoral reform that was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre;

Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Wednesday announced that government has decided to split two other administrative regions for the tabulation of votes at general and regional elections.

In addition to the already announced break-up of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) into four sub-districts, he told a public stakeholder consultation that Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands) and Region Six (East-Berbice Corentyune) would be split. “To demonstrate our commitment to a transparent and equitable process, we immediately complied and we used the rationale of the voting population to do so, so we included a known stronghold of the PPP (People’s Progressive Party)- Region Six  and a known stronghold of the PPP- Region Three, Region Four and Region Six will receive the identical treatment in relation to the proposals and that is what informed these proposals,” he said.

Mr Nandlall said during a previous round of consultations, an unnamed organisation recommended that other regions be included.

He recalled that Region Four was first selected due to the controversy over the tabulation of results at the March 2020 general and regional elections, sparking off accusations by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change that government wanted to interfere in that opposition stronghold.

The Attorney General sought to again dispel any view that the proposed amendments would create an electoral advantage for any political party. “These reforms are good for the system, they are good for the process, they are good for the country, they are good for democracy,” Mr Nandlall said. “I say that to you to again reassure you and to disabuse your mind from any inclination you my have that there is anything sinister, untoward or ulterior with respect to these proposals and that is why I said we are prepared to hear an argument if one feels that there is some bias or prejudice directed in favour of or against any political segment or any segment of the population of the country,” he said.

He said Legislative Drafting Consultant Mrs Durjohn  and former Assistant Chief Election Officer Ganga Persaud have “worked tirelessly” on revising the scattered election laws into one compendium with the focus on Wednesday being on the Representation of the People Act. “We examined the law for gaps and tried as far as possible to fix those gaps,” he said, adding that efforts were made to clarify the various interpretations and regulate discretions.

The proposed amendment also now requires GECOM to state specifically the names of the local organisations that they would accept as local observers and the criteria that would be used to pick them all of which must be published in the Official Gazette. “All that it is intended to do is to bring transparency to the process, bring predictability to the process, allow you to be informed, become knowledgeable and to give all an equal opportunity,” he said.