Region 10 Chairmanship vote ends in tie

The election of a new Chairman for the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) ended in a tie on Friday, after the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) councillors voted alongside the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in support of its nominee, Dominique Blair.

Blair, the APNU’s candidate, secured nine votes, the same number as Mark Goring of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party. The tie now leaves the final decision in the hands of the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand, who will be required to convene a special meeting to cast the deciding vote.

According to the Official Gazette, following the 2025 General and Regional Elections, the distribution of seats in Region 10 was as follows: WIN – 9 seats, APNU – 5 seats, PPP/C – 3 seats, and Forward Guyana – 1 seat.

This outcome means that the PPP/C’s three councillors and the Forward Guyana representative joined APNU’s five votes to support Blair’s bid for the Chairmanship—an alignment that effectively blocked WIN’s majority advantage in the region.

Region 10, officially known as Upper Demerara–Upper Berbice, has traditionally been considered a stronghold of the APNU, but WIN’s performance in the 2025 polls reshaped the political landscape, granting it the largest single bloc of council seats.

The full list of elected councillors includes:

1. A Partnership for National Unity (APNU): Dominique Blair, Suzette Gordon, Donna Perry, Faye Rodrigues, Orlon Rogers
2. Forward Guyana Movement (FGM): Shondell Jerrick
3. People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C): Odessa Adams, Sarah Gibson, Nikita Roberts
4. We Invest in Nationhood (WIN): Denzel Chapman, Tamicka Duke, Nandy Miriam Fiedtkou, Mark Goring, Michelle Hope, Leola Narine, Yoland Nedd, Judith Wade-Martin, Hubert Williams