Commentator and politician Ralph Ramkarran SC has skewered draft electoral legislation from the PPP/C government as “woefully inadequate”.
Ramkarran, who was the presidential candidate for A New and United Guyana (ANUG) at the 2020 general elections, said that the proposed amendments of the Representation of the People Act were limited to setting higher penalties for elections offences, creating new elections offences, setting out a new structure for the biggest electoral district, Region Four and establishing new offices for it.
“Having now demonstrated a mindset of where it wants to go by the contents of the Bill, the Government is unlikely to divert from this already decided course, except perhaps with minor amendments. But much more is required, and this was the opportunity to accomplish needed reforms in other areas of the electoral system, especially since the next elections are four years away”, Ramkarran said in his Sunday Stabroek column yesterday.
