Joining their Lists of Candidates will ensure that votes cast for them will not be wasted as they seek to deny the winning party an absolute majority in parliament, leaders of the parties that have engaged in the historic move for the March 2 polls have said.
Leaders of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) and The New Movement (TNM), at a joint press conference yesterday, confirmed that they have agreed to join their Lists of Candidates for the upcoming general and regional elections. Stabroek News had reported yesterday that the leaders of ANUG, LJP, and TNM – Ralph Ramkarran, Lenox Shuman and Asha Kissoon respectively, had written Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield notifying that that they wished to engage in a “joinder of lists.”
The move will see the parties contesting the polls separately but for the allocation of seats in the National Assembly and on the Regional Democratic Councils, the votes they secure will be counted collectively. This would consequently improve their chances of securing parliamentary and regional seats. With the upcoming polls effectively a two-horse race between the governing APNU+AFC coalition and the PPP/C, denying them a majority in parliament is a key goal of the smaller parties who hope to be able to wield any swing seats obtained to ensure more accountability and better governance.