Councillors on the Region 10 (Upper Demerara–Upper Berbice) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) are intensifying efforts to compel the Central Government and the Regional Executive Officer (REO) to allow the Council to complete the election of a Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman, more than a three months after the September 2025 General and Regional Elections.
According to the official declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) secured 10,458 votes in Region 10, while A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) received 5,334 votes, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) 4,260 votes, and the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) 662 votes. This translated into an 18-member RDC comprising nine WIN councillors, five APNU councillors, three PPP/C councillors and one FGM councillor.
However, when the RDC convened its inaugural meeting on October 10, 2025, to elect a Regional Chairman following the elections, the process stalled after the first ballot ended in a deadlock. WIN nominated Mark Goring for the position, while APNU nominated Dominique Blair.
The vote ended in a 9–9 tie, with the councillors evenly divided between the two nominees.
Despite the provisions of the Local Democratic Organs Act, which require the process to proceed to a second and, if necessary, a third round of voting, the Regional Executive Officer and Clerk of Council, Dwight John, adjourned the meeting. Since then, WIN has repeatedly sought, unsuccessfully, to have the process lawfully resumed.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand, has stated publicly that she has no authority to determine the outcome of a tied vote and that the Clerk of Council must follow the statutory process outlined in law.
Today, WIN and FGM ouncillors escalated the matter by signing a Resolution, and dispatching a formal letter to Minister Manickchand, requesting that the process to elect a Chairman and Vice Chairperson be allowed to move forward.
In an invited comment to Village Voice News, WIN councillor and chairmanship nominee Mark Goring said it is incumbent on the elected councillors to move the process forward.
“Now that we have the signature of the lone FGM councillor, Shondell Jerrick, which brings us to ten — a majority of the council — we are hoping that good sense will prevail and that the Central Government, along with the REO, will allow councillors to elect the Chairman and Vice Chairperson and move the business of the region forward,” Goring said.
Goring added that while APNU has not yet signed on to the Resolution, he remains optimistic that the partnership will support the democratic process when the election is eventually held.
According to the letter dispatched to the Minister, councillors said the continued failure and refusal of the Clerk of Council to reconvene the RDC following the tied first ballot has resulted in a “serious governance and democratic crisis” in Region 10. The letter further states that the absence of an elected Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman has paralysed the lawful functioning of the RDC, prevented the establishment of statutory committees, undermined oversight of the Regional Administration, and excluded elected councillors from meaningful participation in the preparation of the 2026 Regional Budget.
“This situation directly affects the democratic rights and governance interests of approximately 40,000 residents of Region 10, who remain without a fully constituted regional leadership through no fault of their elected representatives,” Goring noted.
The councillors have formally implored Minister Manickchand to intervene, citing her constitutional and statutory responsibility for oversight of local democratic organs, to ensure compliance with the law and the restoration of democratic governance in the region.
Among the five resolutions adopted today, councillors resolved:
“That the elected Councillors of the Regional Democratic Council, Region No. 10, hereby formally call on the Regional Executive Officer/Clerk of Council to immediately convene the statutory meeting required to continue the election of the Regional Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman as mandated by Section 20(6)(a)–(h) of the Local Democratic Organs Act, Cap. 28:09.”
They further resolved:
“That should the Clerk of Council fail to comply within five (5) days of this Resolution, this will trigger additional lawful action, including but not limited to peaceful civic demonstrations, petitions to the Local Government Commission and applications to the High Court to defend the rule of law and the democratic rights of the people of Region 10.”
The 18 councillors sworn in to the Region 10 RDC following the 2025 elections are:
APNU (5): Dominique Blair, Suzette Gordon, Donna Perry, Faye Rodrigues, Orlon Rogers
Forward Guyana Movement (1): Shondell Jerrick
PPP/C (3): Odessa Adams, Sarah Gibson, Nikita Roberts
We Invest in Nationhood (9): Denzel Chapman, Tamicka Duke, Nandy Miriam Fiedtkou, Mark Goring, Michelle Hope, Leola Narine, Yoland Nedd, Judith Wade-Martin, Hubert Williams
Goring told Village Voice News he remains optimistic that “good sense will prevail” and that councillors will recognise they were elected to represent the people and must provide the leadership Region 10 deserves.
