Having tilted to the AFC and APNU in the 2011 general elections, Region Eight has swung back to the PPP/C with the party gaining the most votes in the Regional Elections thus gaining control of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
The APNU+AFC alliance managed to win the Region at the national level by one vote. The alliance gained 1,837 votes from the region at the national level while the PPP/C snagged 1,836 votes. For the regional election, the coalition lost to the PPP/C by just 46 votes. The coalition garnered 1,791 votes while the PPP had 1,837.
What was surprising to members of the APNU+AFC in Region 8 was how many votes the PPP/C was able to attract in 2015 compared to 2011 when the party had won only 741 votes at the general elections and 744 at the regional elections.
APNU councillor Oswald Junor told Stabroek News that he was disappointed with the regional results of the May 11 elections and said that the coalition just did not have the resources to match the PPP/C when it came to campaigning. He said that while the AFC won the chairmanship in the 2011 elections, the opposition was no match for the PPP/C whom he accused of utilizing state resources to campaign in 2015.
“The PPP used government resources and used vote buying. They had the money, it is that simple,” Junor asserted. He noted that “the REO’s (Regional Executive Officer) office was using state funds to go, to travel, stay in these villages and use government money.”
REO Ronald Harsawack was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The APNU councillor said that voter education was stifled and the PPP/C was able to manipulate the situation on the ground to benefit the party by showcasing the lack of work being done. He pointed out that the RDC would be sidelined by the withholding of funds and the REO would go to communities and highlight that the RDC was not doing any work “and knowing that the REO’s office is controlling the purse.”
AFC Councillor Mohamed Gafoor emphasized that the opposition just did not have the funds necessary to campaign and to redirect people’s misinformation. Gafoor told Stabroek News “all the money the REO office spending was state money so he was going here, there, he was going all over, we didn’t have that kind of money so we aren’t going into all of the communities and getting a chance to tell people that it is the same REO that is blocking the spending on this project.”
He emphasised that the PPP’s limitless purse due to the “manipulation of state resources,” contributed greatly to the party being able to more than double their votes in 2015 compared to 2011.
The region was dominated by the opposition in 2011. The AFC won the chairmanship with 983 votes while APNU had won 693 votes against the PPP’s 744. In the general elections, the AFC had won 995 votes while the APNU got 739 and the PPP 741 votes.
Gafoor said that there was a slight increase for the coalition in 2015 in both the Regional and the General elections. However, he alleged that councillors are not satisfied with the Guyana Elections Commission. He questioned how the PPP were able to more than double their numbers in 2015 compared to 2011. The PPP/C increased their Regional votes by 1093 and General votes by 1095.
Stabroek News was in Mahdia in the week prior to the May 11 General and Regional Election and was made to understand that teachers from the Mahdia Primary School had absconded to campaign for the PPP/C. When this publication had visited a private school that was occupying the Community Centre, residents said that this was not the first time that teachers had abandoned their work to travel and campaign for the PPP/C.
Stabroek News reached out to former Region 8 Chairman Mark Crawford. However, he said that he needed to consult before making any comments as to why the PPP/C was able to make such strides while the coalition was only able to garner a little over 100 additional votes.
In an interview with Stabroek News last week, Crawford had stated that “for the longest time I haven’t received finance reports.” He added “I noticed discrepancies in the Auditor General reports over the years, multiple times and asked” but there has been little feedback.
For three and a half years since the 2011 general elections, Region Eight’s RDC and Central Government have been at odds with each other with the former accusing the latter of ghost contracts and lack of financial accountability.
