THE Government of Guyana has commenced its first round of public consultations on the draft amendments to electoral laws.
Leading the consultations, on Tuesday, was Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C.

According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Chambers, the engagement dealt specifically with the draft amendments to the Representation of the People’s Act, which were publicly circulated by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, inviting a review, written recommendations and general views on the proposed law.

Many stakeholder organisations, as well as individuals made recommendations and expressed their opinions in writing.

“They were all invited to yesterday’s engagement. Representatives of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Electoral Reform Group attended. These were among the organisations who had made submissions and recommendations pursuant to the invitation extended. At the meeting, those submissions were thoroughly interrogated and discussed,” the Attorney General said in the statement.

He added that he used the opportunity to explain the nature and purpose of the legislative proposals, and also made it clear that it was outside the scope of the exercise to address issues which will require amendments to the Constitution.

He advised that those recommendations be deferred and be presented when the constitutional reform process begins.
The stakeholder organisations, Nandlall noted, expressed their broad support for the proposed reforms.

The draft legislation is highly anticipated because of the protracted national and regional elections of 2020.
Guyanese, after casting their votes on March 2, 2020, had to endure an unimaginable wait for the results of the General and Regional Elections, as they witnessed alleged unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.

In this time, the patience of the electorate was tested, as electors observed what was described as attempts by the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration to rip the democratic fabric of the nation, with “delay tactics” which were openly criticised by a wide section of society.

It was only after the legal challenges and international intervention that a national recount of all votes cast was convened and the figures showed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) received 233,336 votes, while the APNU+AFC Coalition got 217,920 votes.

Owing to what had occurred throughout the electoral process, President Dr. Irfaan Ali had committed that Guyanese will never have to endure that again.