People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioners are pointing an accusing finger at Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan for allegedly seeking to select Chairmen for six Local Authority Areas where there have been a tie.
PPP Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Robeson Benn and Bibi Shaddick
At a press conference on Tuesday, Commissioners Sase Gunraj and Bibi Shaddick said that the Minister was acting outside the remit of the law.
According to them, Section 13 (6) of the Municipal and District Councils Act provides that in the event of an equality of votes in favour of more than one candidate, the Town Clerk shall appoint a date for the election of a Mayor by the people registered to vote in the specific Municipality. This date shall not be later than December 28 of the same year.
“That has to be a very worrying development. If that is indeed the case, then it is an attempt to usurp the functions of the Guyana Elections Commission,” Gunraj stated.
In areas where there were ties after the recently-concluded Local Government Elections (LGE), Minister Bulkan has stepped in and named the persons that would be Mayor and Chairpersons.
Reports have confirmed that instead of duly applying the law, Minister Bulkan went ahead and named the Chairpersons for some five Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Mabaruma Municipality where there were ties.
The PPP Commissioners insisted that GECOM should take the reins and hold another election in the areas. Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap 28:01, of the Laws of Guyana sets out the rules governing Local Authority Areas within the Republic of Guyana.
The Commissioners said it was only in the event of a tie in favour of more than one candidate at that by-election that the Minister can appoint a Mayor from among the candidates securing an equal number of votes.
This position, they say, applies to other Local Authority Areas, and particularly the election of NDC Chairmen and Vice Chairmen, by virtue of Section 39 of the said Act.
“Upon publication of the results of the Local Government Elections in the Official Gazette, it was discovered that there were several Local Authority Areas where there was equality in the number of seats allocated to contestants.”
Thereupon, Commissioner Shaddick met with Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, Deputy CEO Vishnu Persaud, and Legal Officer Juanita Barker to discuss the said issue. The discussions ended with the understanding that the procedure to be adopted was that outlined above in accordance with the provisions of the cited law.
This position was confirmed by CEO Lowenfield in several meetings and conversations with Commissioners and he indicated that a document to this effect was being prepared for circulation.
“It has come to our attention that in several of the Local Authority Areas where there were equality in the number of seats allocated to contestants and where there is now an equality of votes in favour of more than one candidate for Chairman; the Overseers are suggesting that an appointment will be made by the Minister ….”
The Commissioners took the opportunity to restate the position as defined in the relevant legislation and to remind that the law mandated an election to be held by the persons registered to vote in the specific municipality or Local Authority Areas, and only in the event of another tie that the Minister can appoint a Mayor from among the relevant candidates.
