Claims by Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition made inroads in some strongholds of the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) at the recently concluded Local Government Elections are all lies.
So says General Secretary of the PPP/C, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who noted that on the contrary, the PPP/C picked up significant votes in opposition strongholds; many of these areas where the party was unable to field candidates at the last local government polls in 2018.
“… A series of lies they continue to tell to the people of Guyana…we will never allow them to succeed. They are the only party that would make failure a virtue.
“They have a unique ability to do this and they have misled a lot of people,” Jagdeo said at a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Jagdeo said the PPP/C was set to control 66 of the 80 local authority areas across the country.
On Thursday, he provided further internal party analysis, pointing out that PPP/C representatives are set to occupy 906 of 1,220 seats in Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and municipal councils across the country.
This is an increase from the 779 seats the PPP/C secured in 2018 while the APNU along with its coalition partner AFC, at the time, won 390 seats.
In 2023, the APNU contested on its own and is down to 275 seats which is roughly 22 per cent of all the seats in the country.
“…And they are claiming that the PPP did not achieve what they set out to do.
“By any definition, anywhere in the world, 75 per cent win is a massive win by any standard,” Jagdeo contended.
He said the PPP/C’s figures correspond with those of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and according to Jagdeo, the fact is that more people voted for the PPP than APNU.
“That is a fact. APNU cannot change this, GHK Lall cannot change this, the Cathy Hughes who has been speaking can’t change this, Norton can’t change this,” Jagdeo argued.
He noted that one of the lies told by Norton at a press conference held earlier on Thursday was that the APNU had won Platanca, East Bank Berbice – a PPP stronghold.
But Jagdeo noted that while the win is projected by only five votes, the matter remains contentious because the PPP received an additional five votes. As a result, the PPP/C has requested a recount of this area.
The PPP has, however, won the popular vote in this area with 39 to 31 on the Proportional Representation front.
Jagdeo also rejected claims by Norton that the APNU had a whitewashed victory across Region Five.
He pointed out that in the Woodland/Farm NDC, there is a tie. Meanwhile, at #5 Village, the PPP increased its votes from five in 2018 to 206 in 2023. Additionally, the PPP secured six seats at ‘C’ Field, an increase from three in 2018.
At Hamlet/Chance, where the PPP could not field candidates in 2018, they secured 102 votes. The situation was the same in other areas including at Blairmont.
And then in Region Four, Jagdeo said at Buxton in Constituencies One and Two, the PPP picked up 114 and 40 votes, respectively, having contested the areas for the first time.
“So, we picked up even in their strongholds, significant votes in places where we couldn’t field candidates before,” Jagdeo said.
Turning his attention to the capital, Georgetown, Jagdeo pointed out that the APNU’s votes in the city actually dropped with the PPP picking up two additional constituencies.
The PPP won a total of five of the 15 seats. Jagdeo claimed the APNU votes dropped by almost 400 in the city while the PPP went from 750 in 2018 to 12, 553 in 2023.
Jagdeo went through similar comparisons in Bartica, Linden and the wider Region 10 area.
He said claims that the low turnout at the polls was a rejection of PPP were also false, noting that this is a historic feature of local polls.
“They should be worried that with this small turnout, we trounced them,” Jagdeo said.
