The political deadlock paralysing Region 10 has now moved to the High Court, with nine elected WIN councillors accusing the Regional Administration of frustrating the completion of the democratic process and denying residents a fully functioning Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
The councillors, represented by Dhurjon Chambers and Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, filed a Fixed Date Application on Friday seeking an order compelling Regional Executive Officer (REO) Dr. Gregory Harris, in his capacity as Clerk of Council, to reconvene the RDC and complete the election of the Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman.
The move follows months of failed attempts to have the council reconvened since the 2025 Regional Elections.
Region 10 remains the only administrative region in Guyana without an elected Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman, according to the WIN Region 10 Secretariat.
WIN says its councillors have since exhausted every reasonable avenue to resolve the matter without litigation.
Those efforts included formal correspondence with successive REOs and Clerks of Council, resolutions passed by a majority of councillors, representations to the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, complaints to relevant authorities, media appeals, peaceful protests, petitions, public-awareness campaigns and legal correspondence setting out the statutory obligations under the Local Democratic Organs Act.
Still, the council has not been reconvened to complete the election.
The party is now asking the courts to force what it says should have happened through the normal democratic process.
“At its core, this matter is about the rule of law.”
WIN argues that the continuing impasse has consequences far beyond the question of who occupies the Chairman’s seat.
According to the party, the failure to complete the election has prevented the council from properly establishing and operationalising statutory committees, weakened oversight of the Regional Administration and restricted the elected representatives’ participation in decisions affecting Region 10.
It also contends that the situation has eroded public confidence in local democratic institutions and effectively excluded the elected component of the RDC from matters concerning regional development and governance.
The dispute is particularly significant because WIN emerged as a major force in Region 10 following the 2025 Regional Elections. Its nine councillors account for half of the 18-member council, putting the party at the centre of the unresolved battle over the chairmanship.
Goring, who is WIN’s candidate for Regional Chairman, has previously been at the forefront of the demand for the council to be allowed to function.
WIN insists, however, that the court action is not simply an attempt to secure the chairmanship for Goring.
“The people of Region 10 voted in a lawful election. Eighteen Councillors were elected and sworn into office. The law provides a mechanism for the election of a Regional Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman. That process must be allowed to run its lawful course.”
The party has also rejected any suggestion that the lawsuit is an attack on a particular political party or individual.
“We wish to make it clear that this legal action is not directed against any political party or individual for political purposes. Rather, it is a necessary step to protect democratic governance, uphold the rule of law, and defend the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Region 10.”
The intervention of the courts now places the unresolved regional leadership crisis squarely before the judiciary, after months of political appeals and public pressure failed to break the stalemate.
WIN says it will continue to pursue the matter peacefully and through democratic institutions, but argues that residents should not have to wait indefinitely for the representatives they elected to exercise their lawful responsibilities.
“The people of Region 10 deserve a fully functioning Regional Democratic Council.”
“The people of Region 10 deserve lawful representation.”
“The people of Region 10 deserve democracy.”
The High Court will now be asked to determine whether the Clerk of Council must reconvene the RDC and allow the statutory process for choosing Region 10’s Chairman and Vice Chairman to proceed.
For Region 10, the court case could finally determine whether an election conducted almost a year ago will be allowed to produce the leadership voters were entitled to elect.
