The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will be taking control of the Lethem municipality in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) according to the preliminary results released by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
The victory is being described as a significant one as the Party sees the Local Government Elections (LE) as a trial run for the 2020 General Elections.
According to the preliminary results, of the 1334 valid votes the PPP/C secured 676 with three of the five Proportional Representation seats while the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) got 528 votes and the remaining two seats.
The residents of the municipality deemed the Alliance For Change (AFC) “unfit and improper” after they only managed to scrape 130 votes and no seat on the Town Council.
Lethem was officially declared a township in October of 2017 and was being headed by APNU’s Kerry Jarvis as Mayor. However, Jarvis was unable to retain his seat with PPP/C’s Jason Wilson pulling the seat from under him. Of the 10 seats up for grabs in the municipality, the PPP/C now has six to APNU’s four.
However, the Party would have lost the Aranaputa-Upper Burro Burro Local Authority Area (LAA) to APNU.
Meanwhile, preliminary results coming out of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) show that the APNU won the Harlet-Chance and Profit-Rising Sun LAA with three and five seats respectively while tying with the PPP with two seats a piece in the Woodlands-Bel Air LAA.
Over in Region 10, it is reported that the APNU swept the Linden municipality securing all 16 of the seats there.
The PPP continues to show that Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is its main support base with what is being considered a landslide victory at the polls on Monday.
According to preliminary results, the Party did not take control of the region’s capital, New Amsterdam; however, it walked away with Rose Hall and Corriverton municipalities.
At Rose Hall, the Party took 11 of the 16 seats and at Corriverton, it took 14 of the 16 seats.
At the last LGE, the PPP won 14 of the 16 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) with one going to APNU and the two parties having a deadlock at the Fyrish-Gibraltar NDC. That was not the case at Monday’s poll.
In all the constituencies in Georgetown the Alliance For Change (AFC), which contested LGE without the APNU, fared baldy at the polls. The same situation also prevailed in Whim Corentyne where more of the votes went to the PPP/C.
Meanwhile, as polls opened on Monday, voting was slow but finished with a rush across the region.
More results will be forthcoming.
