The much anticipated results from the November 12, 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) will be officially released today by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
This was revealed by the elections body on Thursday which also revealed that a press conference will be facilitated at its office today.
The three major political parties – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) – have since come out saying how pleased they were with the preliminary results, which were available the day after LGE.
The PPP/C recorded a huge win at Monday’s poll in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) after picking up 8356 votes as against APNU which won 5960, and the
AFC 270.
The PPP won five of the 10 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) in that region, while there was a tie in one of the NDCs. The region saw that party winning the Blairmont/Gelderland NDC with 11 seats, while APNU secured three seats. The party also won the Rosignol/Zee Lust NDC with 13 seats, as APNU was only able to secured three seats.
There was a tie at the Woodlands/Bel Air NDC in terms of seats, with both parties winning two constituencies each. However, in terms of votes cast, the PPP got 401 and APNU 283. The PPP took all 18 seats in the Bath/Woodley Park NDC and 10 in the Union/Naarstigheid NDC. APNU won six seats there.
In the Seafield/Tempe NDC, APNU claimed 11 seats and the PPP, five; while at the Profit/Rising Sun NDC, the PPP got two seats and APNU nine.
In the Park/Abary NDC, the PPP got 10 of the 16 seats with APNU claiming the others. All four seats in the Hamlet/Change NDC went to APNU which also won the Woodlands/Farm NDC with a 7-6 majority. The eighth seat went to an independent candidate.
The General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, has boasted of the party’s success in a recent press conference as the party copped 45,000 more votes than
the APNU and the AFC combined.
He was specifically pleased about the PPP/C being able to win five of 10 towns at this year’s LGE.
At the 2016 LGEs, which was the first in 22 years, the PPP/Civic won only three out of the nine towns across the country but according to the PPP/C General Secretary, the Party made significant inroads, taking five of the 10 towns.
These, he noted, were Mabaruma, Anna Regina, Rose Hall, Corriverton and Lethem – the latter of which the APNU/AFC won at the last elections.
In Lethem, he said the PPP secured three out of the five seats; APNU, two, and AFC none; while in Mabaruma, the PPP got eight out of 12 seats, whereas it tied with the coalition the last time around. With a 30 per cent voter turnout in the city for this year’s elections, the Party also saw candidates winning in Georgetown constituencies.
GECOM has disclosed that seven political parties, 21 voluntary groups and 33 individuals vied for victories in some or all of the Local Authority Areas (LAAs). The AFC and APNU contested in all municipalities and NDCs, while the PPP/C contested in 80 LAAs.
