Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George, has dismissed the legal challenges brought against the country’s Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system by Attorney Christopher Ram and Leader of the United Republican Party, Vishnu Bandhu.
Ram and Bandhu challenged certain sections of the Representation of the People’s Act, and wanted the Court to set aside specific sections of the Act, as well as to declare some aspects of the country’s electoral framework to be unconstitutional.
Mr. Ram argued that Article 160 of the Constitution provides for a candidate, as opposed to a list of candidates to contest the elections. He contended that Parliament never gave effect to that aspect of Article 160 and that makes the electoral framework unconstitutional.
Mr. Ram had also petitioned the Court to mandate the Guyana Elections Commission to allow individuals to contest the elections outside of the list system.
Mr. Bandhu, however, argued that Article 160 permits a political party to contest the elections and Article 147 guarantees him a fundamental right to participate in an election in any manner that he feels fit, but the provision of the Representation of the People’s Act, restricts him in a particular way.
The Acting Chief Justice disagreed with both contentions, and ruled that the applicants failed to show any Constitutional breach in the manner in which political parties are required to contest national elections. Acting Chief Justice George explained in her ruling, that there was no evidence to support the claims that the electoral system was flawed.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who representaed the state in the matter, has welcomed the ruling and said it puts a case to rest that should have never reached the Court.
“They completely misconstrued Article 160, they plucked words out of it, to suit their political expedient position in the case and we had to show the court how Article 160 should be interpreted and how the Proportional Representation electoral system works,” Mr. Nandlall noted.
The Chief Justice also dismissed the argument that the PR system created unconstitutional barriers for smaller or individual candidates seeking to participate.
“We countered that his reading of Article 160 was completely inaccurate, Article 160 makes no provision whatsoever for an independent candidate to run. The Article first of all entrenches in the constitution and establishes an electoral system call Proportional Representation and Proportional Representation by its character does not allow independent candidates to run so that is the first flaw in the argument,” Nandlall said following the ruling.
The court has ordered Christopher Ram to pay $500,000 in costs to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), while Vishnu Bandhu was ordered to pay $250,000 to GECOM and $250,000 to the Attorney General in costs.
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