The governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP) further cemented its dominance at the recently concluded Local Government Elections after it won two tiebreakers on Thursday.
The party now controls 67 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs); it was able to claim 66 LAAs before Thursday’s tiebreakers.
In Constituency Four of the Plegt Anker/ Kortberaadt LAA, PPP candidate, Odesh Tamberine and APNU candidate, Deodachan Ramdat tied on 32 votes each.
Because of the tie, the respective Returning Officers were required to draw lots in the presence of a magistrate to determine who would eventually win the constituency. Tamberine’s name was drawn from a bag and as such, he was declared the winner of this constituency.
“This election was fair, the Court’s decision is final,” Tamberine told reporters after the tiebreaker. But this particular tiebreaker is significant.
In this LAA now, both the PPP and APNU will control two constituencies each. The PPP has, however, won more votes in the Proportional Representation portion of the elections (usually called the popular vote).
Resultantly, the PPP will be able to select the Chairperson for the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), effectively exercising control of the LAA.
This situation where the PPP and APNU are tied but the PPP has the popular vote exists in five of the 67 LAAs that party clinched.
In Constituency Four of the Seafield/ Tempie Local Authority Area in Region Five, PPP candidate, Ramdat Baitu tied with the APNU candidate on 27 votes each. After another tiebreaking exercise, Baitu’s name was drawn from a bag and as such, he was declared the winner of this constituency.
Baitu told reporters that he believes he deserved to win and vowed to represent all persons in his constituency. In this area however, APNU has the popular vote so that party maintains control over the LAA.
Still, APNU’s standings has significantly declined when compared to the results obtained at the 2018 Local Government Elections.
