With local government polls drawing closer, the candidates for Georgetown were unveiled yesterday and a fierce battle is expected in a new system where First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting can shake up the old order.
A total of six political parties and civil society groups have been approved by the Guyana Elections commission (GECOM) to contest the proportional representation (PR) aspect of the upcoming Local Government Election in Georgetown while 64 candidates are vying for 15 FPTP seats. This is according to the list released by GECOM.
The PPP/C has not declared a mayoral candidate. (An earlier version of this story had said that former Works Minister Robeson Benn was on the list. This is incorrect. It is his son, Brindley Hamid Robeson Benn who is on the list. Stabroek News regrets the error.) APNU+AFC’s list includes long-serving Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green but she will have to prove herself. She is only on the FPTP list for one of the constituencies which means that if she lost the election she would not be in the council. Other potential mayoral nominees on the APNU+AFC list include long-serving councillor Oscar Clarke and businessman Gerhard Ramsaroop. APNU+AFC and the PPP/C may take flak for including a number of sitting councillors from the council which has been in charge since 1994
APNU+AFC
On March 18, 2016 Guyanese will for the first time in over two decades go to the polls to elect their local authority representatives.
On that day residents of Georgetown will have several choices under both the Proportional Representation (PR) and First Past the Post components of the election. The 15 PR seats will be allocated on the basis of the percentage of votes won by each contesting group. The 15 FPTP seats will go to the candidates who win their constituencies.
The six groups approved by GECOM are the main political groupings A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) and People’s Progressive Party/Civic. They are joined by Team Benschop for Mayor, Team Legacy, Youth for Local Government and A Nation Building Corp.
Each of these groupings were required to submit a list of names equal to half the number of seats on the council as well as 10 additional names.
Of the listed groupings only Team Benschop has identified a Mayoral Candidate in the person of social activist Mark Benschop. This election could be a major test for him.
In an invited comment yesterday, leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan said that his section of the coalition is not interested in fielding a mayoral Candidate at this time.
“We want to see all of them work to win this election. We won’t identify anyone and have them win anyone else’s hard work. They will work, they will win and they will make their decision about a Mayor among themselves,” he said. A Mayor is usually elected at the first meeting of the 3o-seat council.
Also included in the list is present Chairman of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) AFC’s Leonard Craig.
The PPP/C list includes present councillors Elme Ishmael and Prabhodial Sattan.
One notable name on list of the Nation Building Corp is international corporate lawyer Dr Phillip Mozart Thomas. Thomas came to prominence for his failed attempt to hold a National Civil Society Summit in 2014 under the auspices of the Guyana National Civil Society Council. This list also includes University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) president Joshua Griffith.
Local journalist Leroy Adolphus and Mondale Smith lead the list of recognisable names on the Youth for Local Government list.
GECOM identified a total of 64 persons contesting for the 15 available First past the post seats. Of that number 14 are individual candidates.
Five of the six groupings which have been approved to contest for the 15 proportional representation seats have also been approved to contest for the first past the post seats. These groupings are APNU+AFC, PPP/C, Team Benschop for Mayor, Team Legacy and A Nation Building Corp. They are joined by the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HNTP) who are contesting in constituencies 2: Kitty North, Central & South & Subryanville and 4:Lamaha Gardens, Newtown Campbellville, Section K Campbellville & Bel Air Park. Of these grouping only the PPP/C is fielding candidates in all 15 constituencies, the APNU+AFC is fielding candidates in 14 of the 15 constituencies. There is no APNU+AFC candidate for Constituency 10- Albouystown-Charlestown.
Team Benschop will be contesting in all but constituency 4. Nation Building Corp in four constituencies namely 1,8,9 and 13 and Team Legacy in constituencies 9,10,11, 12,13 and 14.
Of note is the candidacy of ten sitting councillors. The APNU+AFC list of First Past the Post candidates includes Deputy Mayor Chase-Green as well as Councilors Gregory Fraser, Monica Thomas and Junior Garrett. In addition to councilors Clarke, Eon Andrews and Sheik Ahmad Rahman it means that the coalition is fielding seven sitting councilors while the PPP/C is fielding three of its five sitting councilors. These councilors are Ishmael and Sattan who appear on the Proportional Represen-tation List and Victor Sobers who appears on the first past the post list.
The tenth sitting councilor who is contesting is Gladstone George. George who had gained a seat on the council in 1994 with Mayor Hamilton Green’s ‘Good and Green Guyana (GGG)’ is now contesting under the umbrella of team Benschop. The 15 individual candidates who are contesting the elections include an interesting collection of professionals and social activist.
Bertrand Stuart a dentist from South Ruimveldt hopes to be elected to represent constituency 14: South Ruimveldt Park/ Ruimveldt Industrial Estate. Stuart has for some time been a commentator on issues of public concern and is a former GGG councillor.
Optician Don Gomes who along with is his Enjoy Georgetown Group in 2009 engaged in efforts to clean and beautify the area once occupied by the Luckhoo Swimming Pool is contesting for the seat belonging to constituency 8: Stabroek-Wortmanville-Werk-en-Rust. Gomes will be running against pastor and social activist Wendell Jeffrey who has been active in efforts to rehabilitate addicts and mentally troubled individuals in the city.
