-role was changed in 2017, Minister Manickchand says

THE Minister of Local Government and Regional Development does not determine who becomes Chairman for a Regional Democratic Council (RDC) if there is a tie in the elections.

This statement was made by the Subject Minister, Priya Manickchand, on Monday, while responding to a question about her role in deciding on a Chairman of the Region Ten RDC. At the time, she was the guest on a live radio programme.

It was previously reported that the election of a new Chairman ended on October 10, 2025, after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) candidate Dominque Blair, and We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) candidate Mark Goring tied for the position.

Minister Manickchand stated that the role of the minister in selecting a chairman was changed in 2017. Prior to that, the minister was able to intervene if there was the need for a tie-breaker.

“The law removed the role, and it was right to remove the role because here you have a politically partisan minister who is going to go into a place to tie break,” she said.

“How do you think that’s going to work? It’s not even if the minister’s fair, it’s that it would have appeared unfair,” she further explained.

Furthermore, the minister said justice must appear to be fair. In any kind of action, the perception must not be that it was unfair, she affirmed.

Minister Manickchand said that she has no doubt that Region Ten will move forward in their process for the determination of a Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

She noted that there is a process that needs to be engaged, adding that the Clerk is responsible for this.