The Representation of the People Act (RoPA) amendment bill of 2022 was passed in the National Assembly early Tuesday morning despite objections by the opposition APNU+AFC that it needed to be scrutinized by a Special Select Committee.
According to Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, the amendments to the RoPA are a result of events following the March 2020 general elections which saw attempts to rig the elections in favour of the then APNU+AFC government.
“These amendments are to prevent further abuse of the electoral system and promote transparency. It seeks to enhance, modernise and reform the democratic quality and architecture of our country and to make our electoral machinery and the registration process and the compilation of the list of electors more transparent, more accountable and more effective. The 2020 elections brought to light the way that the legislation in its current form can be subjected to abuse,” he said during the second reading of the bill.