Attorney General Anil Nandlall has shot down attempts to challenge a law governing the holding of elections, stating that Guyana’s electoral process is governed by the Constitution and legitimised by the people of Guyana.
On his Tuesday programme, Issues in the News, Nandlall revealed that he was in receipt of credible information that two legal challenges have been brought to the High Court by surrogates of a presidential hopeful.
The challenge, he claimed, seeks to invalidate the electoral process and sections of the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA) in a bid to have this individual contest the 2025 elections without being part of a list.
Nandlall said that Guyana uses a Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, and this requires that election contestants be part of a list. He opined that the presidential hopeful fears that if he is unable to get a list to submit to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), as is the requirement, then he may not be able to contest the upcoming 2025 elections since the presidential candidate must come from the list provided to GECOM.
“That is what is set out in the Constitution,” Nandlall charged, explaining “that you can go to the elections, individuals can contest, but you must be part of a list and the list is what the voters will vote for and the head of that list which receives the most votes shall be deemed the president.”
The Attorney General noted that this PR system is enshrined in Guyana’s Constitution, while the ROPA and the National Registration Act provide the details and processes of the established electoral machinery based on constitutional prescription.
Prior to this, Guyana went to elections using the first-past-the-post electoral system from 1953 to 1964 until citizens requested the change to the PR system. To now challenge the Constitution in the likelihood that this candidate is barred from contesting the 2025 elections because he may not have a list to submit to GECOM is clearly a “fishing expedition,” the Attorney General opined.
