Triumphant PPP Region 4 Chairman, Vice Chairman promise to include WIN, APNU

Last Updated on Friday, 10 October 2025, 22:53 by Writer

Basking in the People’s Progressive Party Civic’s (PPPC) unprecedented electoral victory in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) in post-independent Guyana, the newly-minted Regional Chairman Clemsford Belgrave emphasised the importance of controlling the country’s most densely populated region.

The Region Four Chairman said the Regional Council’s priority is moving Demerara-Mahaica forward in keeping with the central government’s development thrust. “We are moving forward with Region Four because, at the level of the PPP, we would have garnered a lot of votes, support in Region Four, and today showed the other support we would have gotten in terms of electing the Chair and Vice Chair and this is a very historic moment for us. History has been created for Region Four whereby the PPP has garnered the Chairmanship and the Vice Chairmanship and I must say this is a very historic moment for us,” he told reporters.

Of the 180,972 valid votes cast in the Region Four elections, the PPP won 87,536, followed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) with 46,956, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) with 41,607, and Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) 2,431.

At the same time, he sought to assure Guyanese that no one around the council’s horseshoe table at the Triumph, East Coast Demerara-based Regional Council’s office would be left out of the decision-making process. “I will work with everyone so there is no exclusion. We will work with everyone because we are a council of 35 members and we will work together to take Region Four forward just like how, at the national level, government is taking Guyana forward, we intend to do the same with Region Four,” he said.

In the National Assembly and at local government councils, any political party with the most seats almost routinely votes against its opponents’ motions and other proposals.

In his closing remarks after the elections, Vice Chairman Deoraj Nauth also pledged to work with his political opponents in the interest of the region. “I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all those who supported me. Those who did not, we work as a team to move Region Four together,” he said. He also thanked the government and President Irfaan Ali for placing their trust in him.

Mr Nauth later told reporters that the Council plans to work as a team to move Region Four forward “because of the confidence placed in us by the voters by giving us so many more votes at the national and at the regional level.” “It also played out here today at this election where we have gained a majority in both the chairman and the vice chairman,” he said.

The Region Four Vice Chairman stressed that Demerara-Mahaica is very important to Guyana’s development because it caters for more than 50 percent of Guyana’s population. He committed the council to working in tandem with the national policy of central government “to move Guyana forward.”

After Mr Belgrave and Mr Nauth evidently won by landslides at the internal council elections, the other PPPC councillors were jubilant and excited. Those present from the PPPC to witness the voting included Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Minister of Health Frank Anthony, and Minister of Public Affairs Kwame McCoy. The opposition’s leaderships were represented by Tabita Sarabo-Halley of WIN, APNU’s People’s National Congress Reform General Secretary Sherwin Benjamin and FGM’s leader Amanza Walton-Desir.

APNU and WIN earlier on Friday said their negotiations for the posts of chairman and vice chairman collapsed. WIN accused APNU of colluding with the PPP and APNU blamed the collapse of the talks on WIN’s desire to hold both the chairmanship and vice chairmanship of a number of regions. In the end, APNU said it opted to vie for the top posts independently, but still left the door open for future engagements.”

“APNU remains open to future dialogue and collaboration with all political stakeholders in pursuit of unity, good governance, and development. We reaffirm our dedication to serving the interests of all citizens and to advancing policies that promote inclusion, integrity, and progress across the regions,” APNU said in a statement.

FGM voted for APNU’s Shanika Haynes who lost in both bids for the chairman and vice chairman positions.