Public consultation on electoral reforms set for October 25

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance will be convening a national stakeholders’ consultation on the draft amendments to Guyana’s electoral laws on Tuesday October 25, 2022, from 1 pm to 4 pm at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

A release yesterday from the ministry said that the consultation is an “integral element of the Government of Guyana’s commitment to implement a consultative, inclusive and participatory process regarding electoral reform”. According to the ministry, the consultation forms part of a continuous consultative process which began on November 6, 2021 when the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance published the draft Representation of the People (Amendment) (ROPA) Bill and the draft Regulations made under the Representation of the People Act on its social media pages.

The public was invited to submit feedback to the Ministry within six weeks. However, after requests for extensions, the Ministry accommodated submissions of feedback well into 2022.

The release said that recommendations were received from a variety of stakeholders including civil society actors, the Guyana Elections Commission, some political parties, and other interested individuals and organisations. These recommendations were consolidated and provided to the Attorney General, who in May 2022, facilitated in-person meetings with the respondents.

Updated versions of the ROPA Bill and Regulations have been made available once again and the new draft amendments to the National Registration Act have also been made accessible for public perusal via a link published on the Ministry’s Facebook pages. To this end, the release said that 157 organisations have been invited to the upcoming consultation on October 25th.

These organisations represent a broad cross-section of society including political parties, constitutional bodies, civil society organizations in the labour movement, private sector, faithbased, youth, women, LGBTQ, ethnic/cultural, health and rehabilitation organisations, and “other civil society actors”.

At the upcoming consultation, the release said that Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC will make presentations and lead discussions on the draft amendments to the electoral laws including the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2022, Regulations Made Under the Representation of the People Act 2021, and National Registration (Amendment) Bill 2022.

This consultation will be live streamed on the Department of Public Information’s Facebook page.