LGE March 2016

– mum on names

With a date finally set for the long overdue Local Government Elections (LGE), political parties keen on participating are now hastily switching to election mode to prepare themselves for the upcoming polls. The elections will determine the group of leaders, who will be bestowed with the powers to control the various constituencies within the country.

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is already in the process of identifying potential candidates to contest the elections based on the stipulated ratio, which will see 50 per cent non-party members appearing on the list of representatives. PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee at a recently press conference told the media that the Party is actively involved in activities geared towards selecting and preparing the Party’s potential candidates for the LGE, which will be held on March 18, 2016. “We have our machinery in place; we have our technical and political machinery in place. We are involved in the claims and objections period also; we are involved in identifying candidates on the basis of a 50/50 split to stand as persons that will contest the elections at the various levels. That is the job that is going on right now,” he stated. Providing further details, Rohee explained that the PPP/C has a structure which includes various groups, such as the district committees, regional committees, Members of Parliament, Councillors, cluster leaders and caucuses on the ground, that meet in the various regions and communities on a regular basis. These groups, through the various meetings and consultation process, would have already identified potential candidates to contest, Rohee noted. Names would then be submitted as recommendations to the Central and Executive Committee of the Party who will then shortlist the candidates. The revised list would then be submitted to the people on the ground so they can examine and determine if they are satisfied, he explained. Rohee said it would be too premature to pronounce on who the candidates may be, however, he predicted that they will be a mixture of new and longstanding persons. “We can have people who are in good standing, people who perform creditably, people who the community have confidence in…and there can be a mixture of new blood,” he stated. Rohee also disclosed that his Party, given the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GEOCM) lack of awareness campaign on the LGE structure, is currently in the process of conducting its own educational operations for its membership. “Because we are conscious of that deficiency, we are going about educating the people about how these elections are going to be conducted, etc… In addition, we have party leaders who have been in the system and who were apart of the formulating of the laws who have to expertise and they go about on training programmes organised by the Party to educate our membership on the conduct of these elections,” he stated. Meanwhile, Guyana has 585 constituencies within the 71 organs for the LGE. Local Government Elections have not been held since 1994.