Local Gov’t elections likely early December – Minister Bulkan says there will be no further delay
THE long-awaited local government elections is expected to be held in early December, bringing an end to the decaying local government system.The announcement was made by Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan in an address to the House yesterday, following a meeting with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
“I have been assured [by the GECOM Secretariat] and I verily believe that once such approval is granted, that GECOM will be able to hold the elections in early December or well before the Christmas,” the minister said.
The Elections Commission will be meeting on August 18, following which a formal decision will be made on the date for the elections.
Minister Bulkan, in June, had announced to the House the Administration’s desire to hold local government elections in November.
But the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), in a press statement soon after the minister’s announcement, contended that given the reality, it would not be possible for the elections to be held this year.
According to the former Administration, the nation should be expecting the elections to be held in the second half of 2016.
Making reference to the PPP/C press statement, Minister Bulkan told the House, from which the Main Opposition Party again chose to be absent, that he is unaware of the reality the former Administration was referring to.
“My response to the PPP is that these elections, like time or the tide, will wait on one; it will not be delayed, it will not be deferred any longer; the citizens’ right will no longer be treated with callous disregard,” he said, stressing that the necessity for local democracy and development will not be at the whims of his “absent friends”.
The PPP in their 2011 manifesto had promised to hold local government elections in the first year if re-elected to office.
FAILED PROMISE
However, on re-election, notwithstanding constant reminders, including from non-governmental organisations and the ABC countries, and protests by then Opposition Leader David Granger, and 23 years in office, the PPP failed to honour its promise to the people.
The A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (AFC) coalition, during the last elections campaign, had the holding of local government elections prominent on their agenda, if elected to office.
The elections in early December will be a fulfilment of its manifesto promise. Local Government Elections were last held in 1994.
Minister Bulkan told the House that the long delay in the holding of the elections has resulted in the damaging of many local democratic organs and a degrading of their capacity. These, he said, have rendered them dysfunctional.
“They do not have the capacity to execute their tasks and to discharge their responsibilities to the people in the various jurisdictions,” the minister said.
These effects he said are evident countrywide, and more recently, were manifest during the heavy rainfall. It has made the citizenry painfully aware of the dysfunctional system of local administration, Minister Bulkan noted.
He reported that the Administration has set about fixing the broken system through a three-step approach: Namely, democratic renewal, institutional strengthening and capacity-building, and funding for Councils.
The PPP’s reluctance to hold Local Government Elections when in power, the minister surmised was due to their fear of people being empowered to manage their own affairs and the people being liberated.
But, he contended, local government elections have little to do with politics and everything to do with giving the people their constitutional right to take care of their communities.
And on that note, he called on the Main Opposition Party to support the work of GECOM, and the constitutional right of the populace to have Local Government Elections sooner, rather than later.
By Tajeram Mohabir
