Nandlall says no upper hand to any party in proposed electoral changes; Ramjattan not convinced

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall said earlier this week that government- proposed changes to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) will not provide electoral advantage to any political party, but Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan claims to be unconvinced.

One of the proposed changes includes the ‘splitting’ of the largest electoral district, Region Four (Demerara – Mahaica). Guyana Standard understands that the government is proposing that the region be sub-divided into East Bank Demerara, North Georgetown, South Georgetown and East Coast Demerara. Region Four, in its current structure, is considered an Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) stronghold.

Ramjattan opined that the subdividing ensures that the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) takes control of the district.

“The DNA, the actual genetic composition of the PPP, is to ensure control of everything they have their hands in. It had started since, of course, the Bharrat Jagdeo tenureship, and it continues…If you go back in 2020, around January time, exactly what has been said here in relation to the sub-division of Region Four was said by Bharrat Jagdeo as Leader of the Opposition then. So, he’s only implementing it now, because he wants control over that very, very vital region – the most populated region,” Ramjattan said.

The AFC Leader said that this quest to acquire control is evident in the reported exclusion of the Law Reform Commission (LRC) and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from the drafting stage.

“ I think they’re supposed to establish and constitute the body (LRC) and then ask that body in relation to the Representation of the People Act, what are some of the amendments you (LRC) feel should be in view of all the crisis that we had from March to August (2020). They have not utilized that bureaucracy or what you may want to call ‘another stage’. They have now gone to: ‘what-Anil-thinks-what-Jagdeo-thinks’ and they want to change the law,” Ramjattan lamented.

Another proposed change is to increase the penalties for those who are found guilty of electoral fraud or malpractice. Anyone found operating in contravention to the law can face life imprisonment and/or fined millions of dollars.

Ramjattan said those recommendations should have been made by the LRC or GECOM, not the government.

“They ain’t wait on them, they gone and do their own thing to ensure control…Two top-quality institutions of our country – GECOM and the Law Reform Commission – have been literally abandoned now although you have them in existence…This is what makes this thing so difficult to accept at this stage,” he said.