AFC reaffirms no-participation in 2023 LGE

Witha massive loss at the 2018 Local Government Elections, some 113,000 votes less that the PPP/C, the Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, has reaffirmed that the Party will not participate at the upcoming Local Government Elections, scheduled for June 12, 2023.

On March 10, 2023,

Ramjattan said, “We are certainly not participating, and we have stated our reasons why.”

The AFC Leader went a step further to call for Guyanese to not participate in the elections. He said, “We are going to ask, I personally will ask that people not turn up. Boycott the thing. We are not supporting the arrangement here… that might be for other parties. We are boycotting on very good grounds.”

Under the former APNU+AFC Coalition Government, Local Government Elections were held twice. Voter turnout during that period was low. At the 2016 Local Government Elections, 47.1% or 239,070 of the 507,584 persons eligible to vote cast their ballots turned up to cast their ballots. Even in government, the Coalition could not rally support. Further, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on November 16, 2018, confirmed that 36.3% or 208,534 of the 573,923 registered electors turned up to cast their ballots at the 2018 Local Government Elections.

Nationally, results for the 2018 LGE showed the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has almost doubled the margin of votes between the Party and APNU and AFC combined – moving from about 24,000 at the 2016 Local Government Elections to over 45,000 at this year’s Local Government Elections. The difference of votes between the PPP/C and the AFC was a whopping 113,000 votes. Between the PPP/C and the APNU, the difference of votes was over 50,000.

The results showed that the PPP/C won in 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) and tied five others at the 2018 Local Government Elections. The PPP/C increased its win from 48 LAAs in 2016 to 52 LAAs in 2018 Local Government Elections.

In the 10 towns the PPP/C, secured big wins in five of Guyana’s 10 towns: winning all the seats in Anna Regina, Rose Hall (12 of 16 seats), Corriverton (14 of the 16 seats), Lethem (6 of the 10 seats) and Mabaruma (eight of the 12 seats). The Party was successful in taking control of the Town Councils in Lethem and Mabaruma.

In Georgetown, the PPP/C made significant inroads, securing a total of seven seats on the Town Council – up from two seats. At the 2016 LGE, the Party secured two seats based on the PR votes. This year, the Party, not only doubled its PR votes, coping four seats, but also won three of the 15 Constituencies in Georgetown – bringing the total to seven.

In Bartica, the PPP/C increased its votes by over 60 per cent, when compared to 2016 numbers. At the 2016 LGE the vote totals showed: PPP – 699; APNU+AFC –1,954. This year, the vote totals show: PPP/C – 1,144; APNU – 1,443; and AFC –470. The Party was successful in moving its vote totals closer to the numbers secured by APNU.

In Linden and New Am- sterdam, the Party secured more seats than it did at the 2016 Local Government Elections.

In Mahdia, the newly created town, the Party secured over 20 per cent of the PR votes cast on Monday (November 12, 2018) and secured one seat on the Town Council.

Meanwhile, in the 70 NDCs, the Party was successful in not only holding on to its support base, but also saw an increase in votes in areas that were seen as the traditional support bases of parties like the APNU. The PPP/C won the Buxton/ Foulis NDC, Region 4. Also, the Whim/Bloomfield NDC, Region 6, was another notable win. It was none other than AFC’s Moses Nagamootoo who declared that “there is a straight contest” between the PPP/C and the AFC in this NDC. The PPP/C secured almost 90 per cent of the votes and 13 out of 14 seats in the Whim/Bloomfield NDC. The AFC had less votes in the NDC than the number of candidates and individuals on the Nominators’ List (backers’ list) that they submitted to GECOM, proving our point that they had to compile fraudulent lists.