To cement its massive win at the Local Government Elections 2023, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has moved to request a recount by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in four areas the party had contested.
This was disclosed by the General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Tuesday at a press conference. In these areas, there was a close win for the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
“We have a few requests for a recount now in for a few areas. We expect that those will be pursued soon,” he told media operatives.
One of these areas is Constituency Six (Cummings Lodge/Turkeyen) which shows that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) secured a four-vote win. However, there were a number of spoiled ballots.
The PPP/C has secured wins in Constituencies One (Kingston/Albertown/Queenstown); Two (Kitty/Subryanville); Three (Bell Air Gardens/Bell Air Springs); Four (Lamaha Gardens/Newtown) and Seven (Bourda/Stabroek /Lacytown).
However, should this recount go favour of the PPP, it will mean that they have secured wins in six constituencies in the dominant APNU areas.
The other area where the PPP is requesting a recount is Plegt Anker/Kortberaadt in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) where there is a five-vote difference in favour of APNU. It was explained that during the voting process, the Presiding Officer at that polling station mistakenly handed out tendered ballots to a number of eligible voters.
“These were legitimate voters and they should have gotten a regular ballot. Tendered ballots are not counted. If we succeed, it will change the whole NDC…We believe that all of the people on the tendered ballots voted PPP. It could be a genuine mistake. I am not saying that the Presiding Officer did something deliberate. It just happened,” Jagdeo reasoned.
In La Retraite on the West Bank of Demerara, the PPP has requested a recount of two ballot boxes after it lost by a mere one vote. The fourth area is Mahaica/Abary, owing to a similar situation.
“There are two boxes there [in La Retraite] that we have asked for a recount. We won the overall area but, in that constituency, we lost by a single vote.”
Even before going to the polls, the PPP/C had 291 of the 610 constituencies, being the lone contester.
The Opposition PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) was only contesting 260 of the 610 constituencies, while groups and individuals contested, outside of those 260 areas, in another 58 constituencies.
This means that APNU and other groups or individuals were contesting in a total of 318 constituencies.
During the 2018 LGE, the governing PPP secured massive wins countrywide with more than 45,000 votes than the APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) combined.
Overall, the PPP General Secretary lauded the work of GECOM in ensuring a successful process at the polls with minimal hiccups.
There were minor difficulties that were resolved with diligence from GECOM staffers.
“We saw some minor difficulties, that with the help of some officials of GECOM who were diligent, those issues were resolved…Our assessment of the conduct of the polls is that it was well-organised and it was completed without major incidents,” he disclosed.
Additionally, Jagdeo called on elected councillors to be faithful to the developmental objectives of the party.
“I hope, in the performance of their duties as councillors in these local government bodies, that they live up to the idea of the party and the clear message that we sent to them when they chose to be a part of our platform.”
