Legal challenge to constitutionally-mandated PR system a ‘fishing expedition’ – AG

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall has dismissed as “fishing expeditions” the recent legal actions filed which challenges the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, which is outlined in the Constitution of Guyana.
The legal challenges were mounted by Christopher Ram and Vishnu Bandhu, but according to Nandlall, he believes they are “surrogates” for a presidential aspirant “who may be unsure that he will be able to attract persons to be on a list for him to contest the elections in accordance with the Constitution.”
Speaking during his programme “Issues in the News” on Tuesday evening, Nandlall revealed that Ram and Bandhu are asking to court to “invalidate the electoral process and to invalidate sections of the Representation of the Peoples Act (ROPA) because according to them, it does not allow an individual to contest the elections.”
Nandlall pointed out that the system of PR is enshrined within the Constitution of Guyana, the supreme law of any democracy.
He explained that from 1953, Guyana used the first-past-the-post electoral system but in 1964, this was changed to the PR.
Since 1964, this PR system went through many modifications, particularly from 1999-2000 during the constitutional reform process where citizens were widely consulted.
Noting that while the citizens made many alterations to the PR system, “they kept in the main the basic structure of the PR system”, Nandlall said.
“We’ve had four elections since 2000 under this system. No one challenged it until now. Someone suddenly wakes up with money and decides to change the electoral system through the courts?” the Attorney General questioned.
The Attorney General explained that under the PR system, “the presidential candidate of the list that receives the most votes at that elections shall be deemed to be the president.
That is the system we have. Every country has its own system that is established in the Constitution, and the ROPA and National Registration Act add flesh to that skeleton and they established electoral machinery based upon the constitutional prescriptions.”
In this regard, he deemed the legal challenges as “fishing expeditions”.
“We reject frivolous lawsuits from those who cannot gather the public support needed to contest through proper channels,” Nandlall added.