While it won a big majority of the NDCs and seven of 10 municipalities, the ruling PPP/C was easily defeated in Georgetown and Linden where it had invested much in a high-profile campaign and attracted well- known crossovers from the main opposition APNU in a bid for a historic shift.
Both People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and President Irfaan Ali had made it no secret that they were pulling out all of the stops for a first-time win in Georgetown but it was not to be. APNU clinched 19 seats – for a comfortable majority – and the PPP/C gathered 11 seats.
While A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) ran what was perceived to be an uninspiring lacklustre campaign, the coalition was still able to expand its number of votes in Linden and in Georgetown.
Based on official results released by the Guyana Elections Commission last night, key crossovers to the PPP/C lost to APNU candidates in Georgetown and New Amsterdam – signalling that the base of the opposition party was standing firm.
Though GECOM has not posted official results for all of the Neighbour-hood Democratic Councils (NDCs), Jagdeo told a press conference yesterday that his party had won 66 out of 80 compared to 57 in 2018, meaning that APNU wins fell from 23 to 14. APNU did not contest in some NDC areas.
The PPP/C won in the Mabaruma, Anna Regina, Rose Hall, Corriverton and Lethem municipalities while APNU took George-town, Linden and New Amsterdam and there were ties in the number of councillors at Bartica and Mahdia.
Jagdeo declared that his party has made significant inroads in opposition areas.
“Almost every part of this country, we have seen either an overwhelming victory for the party or massive gains in places where we traditionally were not strong and so it was only because of those who supported this party that victory was possible,” Jagdeo yesterday said during the press conference at Freedom House, the party’s headquarters and command centre.
In Georgetown, one of the heavily contested and watched municipalities, Jagdeo said that they would had achieved satisfactory gains not only in South Georgetown, where they in the past received low number of votes.
According to Jagdeo they have made significant progress by winning five of the constituencies and increasing their votes by almost 6000 from 2018. In 2018, the PPP/C recorded 7,050 votes compared to approximately 12,553 votes secured in this election. He explained that while they would have won constituencies 1,2,3, 4 and 7, the party had earlier in the day requested a recount in constituency Six, (Cummings Lodge North, Central & South, Pattensen /Turkeyen South) where a few votes gave APNU the lead. Jagdeo noted too that this particular constituency would have recorded approximately 150 rejected ballots.
In the official declaration posted by GECOM last night, APNU’s candidate Jeffon Muhammad defeated Param Persaud, who is a sitting PPP/C councillor in the present council, by a mere four votes.
With the declaration of the results, APNU maintains leadership of the council with 19 seats, a drop from 22 seats in the present council. The PPP/C has secured 11 seats, a notable increase from six in the last council.
APNU received a total of 20,839 votes across the city when compared to 2018 where they received 18,127.
Synopsis
Providing a synopsis of the impact his party would have made across the country, the GS said in the South Georgetown constituencies, where they would have in the past recorded double digit votes in some instances they would have moved to recording votes in the mid hundreds.
He explained in Consti-tuency 10 Albouystown Charlestown, where Malcolm Ferreira campaigned, votes increased by 473, while in constituencies 12 Tucville – North Ruimveldt and West and East Ruimveldt, where Patricia Chase Green and Trichria Richards, respectively campaigned votes moved to 528 and 468. Ferreira had won this constituency in the 2016 election but fell to the APNU candidate this time around.
In constituency 13 in Georgetown – West Ruimveldt-East Ruimveldt, APNU candidate, Winston Harding easily defeated PPP/C candidate Richards. The margin of victory was large and the victory for APNU in these boxes underlined the view that voters were voting the party line and were not being influenced by defectors.
According to official results, Harding, who was previously accused of child molestation but later cleared obtained 1,944 votes while Richards gathered 681 votes.
In Constituency 12 – Tucville – North Ruim-veldt where the PPP/C had appeared convinced that it had pulled off a coup by attracting former APNU Mayor Chase-Green to its camp, the ruling party got a shellacking. APNU’s candidate Troy Gordon Garra-way handily defeated Roneta Allison Small who had been taken around the constituency by Chase-Green during campaigning.
Garraway, GECOM results showed swept through the constituency with 2,970 votes while Small managed to scrape 581.
In Constituency 10 – Albouystown – Charles-town, APNU ran close to another candidate who had had community credentials and had just crossed over to the PPP/C. Ferreira had announced he had joined the PPP/C and the fact that he had easily won the constituency in the 2016 LGEs put APNU under pressure. The candidate fielded by APNU, Traves Cleon won.
Seven of 10
Nonetheless, Jadgeo yesterday went on to state that they would have increased their votes in other strongholds such as Sophia and Kingston area in the north Georgetown district.
“These are sizeable numbers [and] it is spread across Georgetown nearly double the number people that voted in 2018 [for the PPP]. So this is like definition of wipe out in your (APNU) base this is definition of massive victory in your stronghold… this is the reality of it here,” an enthused Jagdeo proclaimed.
With that he stressed that his party has won seven of the ten municipalities (in terms of the popular vote even though there is a tie on the Mahdia and Bartica councils). Providing a breakdown of the wins, the GS indicated that In Mabaruma the PPP won 12 seats while APNU got two, in the last local government elections, the party had won eight of the 12 seats.
Over in Mahdia, he explained that there is a tie in the seats gained on the council but nonetheless, they would have won the popular vote. While it is a similar situation in Bartica with another tie, he said the PPP/C increased their votes by over 500. In 2018 they secured 1,145 votes while in this elections they record 1,784 votes. APNU also recorded a marginal increase from 1,521 votes to 1,601. “Isn’t that a major change? That’s the definition of change,” he said.
The PPP continued to hold their traditional grounds in Corriverton, Rose Hall Town, Anna Regina and Lethem.
In New Amsterdam, he pointed out that the party was able to increase the number of seats on the council from three in 2018 to six while in Linden they also improved.
“This is clearly a wipeout. That is the definition of massive victory… [We have] made phenomenal inroads in APNU strongholds,” he declared.
He added that they have also won several new Local Authority Areas (LAA) in this election taking their wins in the vicinity of 66 LAA against 80.
“It is great results… I have said before the elections if we have gotten half of the inroads we have made in this elections I would have been satisfied because it would have still been one of the biggest things that happened in the history of this country. We have made a massive inroads and you can imagine how pleased I am,” he said in response to questions on not being able to achieve the objective set out in the lead up to the elections.
“I wish today to thank the supporters of the PPP for delivering once again a massive and historic victory for the party…Without them the victory that we have would not have been possible… they waged a vigorous campaign…A special thank you, apart from our traditional supporters, to those who came across who were former APNU leaders or supporters, many for decades and some of them for all their lives,” the party’s General Secretary emphasised.
