Electoral law amendments still with PPP/C executive months after draft bill promised

Sep 09, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Amendments to the electoral law or the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA), are still under review by the executive members of the ruling People Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C.

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall SC, in a recent engagement with the press, disclosed that although the amendments which were supposed to be circulated to the public for an open consultation since June, the party leadership is still in the process of examining the suggested amendments before it can be circulated to the public.
The Attorney General said too, that he could not give a timeline as to when the draft document will be ready for public consultation. According to Nandlall, the document has been with the leadership of his party for close to three weeks.
“I’m only one person. The membership of the party has vast experience in the electoral process and their input is integral to ensuring that we get it right,” he said.
As part of the process of amending the election law, citizens are expected to get about three months to scrutinise and make suggestions about these amendments.
In February, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had promised that the draft amendments would be ready for public consultations by June. He had noted that “the idea is to make more transparent and to define responsibilities in the Act that are ambiguous to put in place a set of penalties for people (who) try to steal election.”
As part of electoral reform efforts, the Government of Guyana is reviewing the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) to iron out ambiguous provisions, and include penalties for persons attempting to carry out electoral fraud. ROPA contains laws specific to the conduct of elections and election related issues in Guyana.
The Vice President had noted that any right-thinking person will support this effort, adding that all Guyanese stakeholders will have a chance to have an input in the crafting of the amended bill.
Back then, Jagdeo had said that once a draft amendment bill was in place, it will be sent to the various political parties in the country, civil society bodies, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the international community, and will be available to the public.
He went on to assure that everyone will get a chance to give their feedback on the amendments, including the current parliamentary Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
“And then when that’s done, a draft bill taking into account the input [received], will be presented to the Parliament, where the parliamentary Opposition will once again have an input,” he added.

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