National Assembly passes amendments to key elections law

Dec 08, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Despite calls by the Opposition to send modifications to the Representation of People (ROPA) Act to the special select committee, the National Assembly on Tuesday at midnight passed several amendments in a bid to prevent further abuse of the electoral system.

In presenting the bill for its second reading to the National Assembly Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, S.C. said the amendments are part of efforts by the People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) government to prevent any recurrence of the efforts made by the opposition to thwart the democratic rights of the electorate.

Nandlall noted that the ROPA (Amendment) Bill seeks to enhance, modernise and reform the democratic quality and architecture of Guyana.

He said that the objective is to make our electoral machinery and the registration process and the compilation of the list of electors more transparent, more accountable and more effective. The 2020 elections brought to light the way that the legislation in its current form can be subjected to abuse,” he said.

Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, S.C.

Nandlall stressed that these reforms are not intended to give any political party an electoral advantage. On the contrary, he pointed out that these reforms are much needed changes to the system and are good for democracy.

“The important thing that I want to emphasize here is that there is not a single proposal on these pieces of paper that are intended to create an electoral advantage for any political party. And I want to stress and emphasise that 100 times,” Nandlall said.

The Attorney General also emphasised the importance of having a sufficient number of polling stations to accommodate the electorate, and noted that the amendment addresses this.

Based on the memorandum attached to the ROPA (Amendment) Bill section six of the principle act is amended to impose that every village or locality has an adequate number of polling places to accommodate the electors.

Additionally, a new section 6A is inserted that divides the polling districts Region Three, Region Four and Region Six into sub-districts, each acting independently and distinguished by the names. Region Three will be divided into the Essequibo Islands and River, St. Lawrence to Cornelia Ida, and Hague to Arabio Creek sub-districts.

Region Four will be separated into four units, namely East Bank Demerara, North Georgetown, South Georgetown, and East Coast Demerara. Further, Region No. 6 will be divided into three polling sub-districts: East Bank Berbice to Canje, Upper Corentyne and Lower Corentyne.

The Act also requires that the Statements of Poll (SOPs), among other certified forms, be distributed to the Chief Election Officer, and the Chairman of the Commission.

Additionally, it provides for the returning officer to post an electronic copy of the SOP on the Commission’s website to be viewed publicly. Strict fines and penalties are attached for breaches of these principles in the amended Bill.

Despite these provisions, the Opposition made repeated calls for the passage of the Bill to be delayed until a Special Select Committee could examine it. Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader and Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan hinted that while parts of the Bill could even get Opposition support, other parts are hurdles to bipartisan support.

Ramjattan said despite the Government’s efforts to clarify the residency requirement in the amendments, he said that the principal act should have been left intact.

“You should have put in back that which is not clear and that is the residency requirement. Because we are going to have a scenario where so many people can take advantage of the bloat,” he said.

“A lot of these amendments, you carry them to the select committee, a lot of them will be supported. But this one here is the big set up for a lot of nasty things that can happen in future elections by impersonation,” he added.

However, Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag made it clear that they were long past time to send the Bill to a Special Select Committee.

“This is the second reading. We’re debating this Bill. This Bill has been laid in this Parliament many moons ago. There was enough time for that to be raised. Not only that… this Bill and all its amendments, were placed on the websites of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance and you know what’s worse? I sit on a committee of the IRI, just like the Honourable Member and I have brought it to their attention many times, that it is on the website but there was no contribution,” Parag said.

Moreover, Nandlall reminded that the Bill has undergone a series of consultations to incorporate contributions from over 100 stakeholders.

The AG noted that upon assuming office in 2020, the PPP/C Government made several commitments that are well underway, including electoral reform.

He said, “We promised that the investigative arm of the state will be activated, and criminal charges will be instituted if there is evidence to support these charges. We also promised that the Commission of Inquiry will be launched under the hand of the president.”