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Manickchand washes hands of Region 10 deadlock
– says REO is in charge of the process
(Kaieteur News) – Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand says she has no role in determining the chairmanship of Region Ten, as the process is out of her hands.
The election which was held on October 10, ended in a deadlock with a 9-9 tie between candidates of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). The election, overseen by the Regional Executive Officer and Clerk of Council, Dwight John, referred the matter to the Minister of Local Government.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand
Appearing on GoMoseley Radio ‘New Day’ programme on Monday, the minister was asked about the ministry’s role in addressing the issue.
“The minister no longer has a role to determine who is going to become the chairman if you have a tie. There’s a process, and that process has to be engaged. So, I hope that they do that shortly.”
She said previously, it was the minister, a politically partisan person regardless of which government is in office, who would decide who become the chair in such situations. She noted that the law has since changed and the minister no longer has that role.
Agreeing that it was right to change the law, the local government minister added that “Here you have a politically partisan minister who is going to go into a place to tiebreak. How do you think that is going to work? It’s not even if the minister is fair, it’s that it would appear unfair and justice must appear to be fair.”
She said the clerk is in charge of that process.
Questioned further if she has engaged the clerk, the minister said “I have no doubt Region 10 is going to have their process moved forward and a chair and vice chair would be determined. Sometimes it’s far more than you see on the surface. I think the parties there have their own issues going on too.”
The chair and vice-chair of Region 10 were absent last week when regional chairs and vice-chairs were sworn in by President Irfaan Ali at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal.
President Ali later addressed concerns about the unresolved leadership in Region 10.
“I’m sure that within the ambit of the constitution, and within the ambit of the rules governing the elections, that the chair and vice-chair of Region 10 will be sworn in at the appropriate time when they conclude their elections. As you know that is a process that is still ongoing,” the president told journalists.
Region 10 has traditionally been a stronghold of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). However, the PNC led APNU was dethroned at the 2025 general and regional elections by newcomer WIN.
For this region 18 councilors were sworn in: nine for WIN, five for APNU, three for PPP, and one for the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM).
There were two nominations for regional chairman, WIN’s Mark Goring and APNU’s Dominque Blair. Both men received nine votes each.
Since the RDC elections, WIN has been complaining bitterly about the absence of the chair and vice chair and has noted that the absence has created a serious governance vacuum within the RDC, impeding the statutory and developmental functions of the region’s highest decision-making body.
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