Min. Manickchand to break tie between APNU, WIN for Reg. 10 chairmanship

Oct 11, 2025 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The decision on who will become chairman of Region 10 now rests with Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand, following a tie between We Invest in Nationhood (WIN)’s Mark Goring and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Dominique Blair.

Elections for the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) were held on Friday at the Watooka Guest House in Linden. A total of 18 councilors were sworn in: nine for WIN, five for APNU, three for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and one for the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM).

Those sworn in were Shondell Jerrick, Odessa Adams, Sarah Gibson, Nekita Roberts, Dominique Blair, Suzette Gordon, Donna Perry, Faye Rodrigues, Orland Rogers, Denzel Chapman, Tomika Juke, Mandy Fiedtkou, Mark Goring, Michelle Hope, Leona Narine, Yoland Nedd, Judith Martin, and Hubert Williams.

Voting for the chairman was conducted by secret ballot. Goring raised concerns about this mechanism being used instead of a show of hands. However, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Dwight John dismissed those concerns and proceeded with the ballot process.

Only two nominations were made for Goring and Blair. The process took place before the 18 councilors, Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, and several others.

The count ended with a tie- nine votes each for Goring and Blair. REO John explained that, “According to Chapter 28:09, when there is a tie for chairmanship in any regional council elections, the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, the power has been vested in him or her, in this case her to, after being written to by the RDC explaining what has happened, she will deliberate and give her pronouncement on this.”

He explained that the issue must be sorted by the minister before nominations for vice chairman could be conducted. The proceedings were then adjourned until the minister’s decision is made.

Ahead of the election, Goring had expressed confidence in receiving support from councilors outside of WIN to secure the chairmanship. However, following the results, he expressed disappointment and accused APNU councilors of soliciting the support of PPP and FGM councilors.

Further, Goring contended that the REO went against procedure, insisting another round of voting should have been held before referring the matter to the minister. “So, I still think the election needs to go over again before it reaches the minister… I still believe there’s another round of election to be held, and the minister cannot make a pronouncement on that until the next round of election is held,” Goring said.

When asked about Minister Manickchand’s casting vote for chairman, he stated, “Minister Manickchand, I believe, is relatively fair. However, we have seen a party line…so there was a well-orchestrated plan to keep WIN out. So, I have no faith in Priya making a decision towards me, if she does, that will totally surprise me, however, but I don’t see it happening. That plan already hatched…”

Further, he also hinted at possible legal action, citing alleged violations of the law in how the election was conducted.

Region 10 (Upper Demerara–Upper Berbice) has traditionally been a stronghold of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). However, the PNC led APNU was dethroned in the region at the 2025 general and regional elections by newcomer WIN, led by businessman Azruddin Mohamed. This publication had reported that of the 38,460 electors on the Official List of Electors (OLE) for Region 10, 21,195 voted. WIN received 10,458 votes, followed by APNU with 5,334, PPP with 4,260, FGM with 662, Alliance for Change (AFC) with 210, and Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) with 85.

For his part, WIN leader Mohamed expressed surprise at the results. “Yes. Very much surprised. Very much. I cannot believe that they would try to work together to keep WIN out,” Mohamed said.

The WIN leader added, “Right now its nine-nine. It’s clearly, you can see that the PPP, the APNU and the FGM, they all voted together and WIN voted separate, because we got nine, APNU got nine and with the nine, it’s the five from APNU, the tree from PPP and the one from FGM. I don’t know why all these parties are trying to work together to get WIN out.”

Mohamed underscored that his party won the region and simply wanted the opportunity to represent the people of Region 10.

Now that the ball is in the minister’s court, Mohamed said WIN is awaiting her decision. “I don’t think she will give it to WIN. You can see how everything is unfolding…so let’s see what the Minister of Local Government, her decision is. But I know she will go with the APNU because they want to keep WIN out. They know that when, no matter which government it is, WIN will hold all of them accountable.”

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• APNU, Dominique Blair, Manickchand, Mark Goring, win

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