Gecom may not meet August deadline for local gov’t polls

-work plan outlines 180-day timetable after announcement of date

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ne-local-govt-polls/

Although the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) is confident that it will be ready to hold local government polls 180 days after a date is set by the local government minister, sources say it is unlikely that it can meet the August 1 deadline recently set by the National Assembly.

“I don’t think the problem is Gecom’s readiness to hold local government elections because we have a budget and we have been preparing for this and have a plan… the thing might be Gecom being ready for August per se,” one source said.

Gecom has identified legislative hiccups that would need to be addressed to cater for its 180-day timetable but has recognized that these can be taken care of during the given period.

“In planning for the conduct of local government elections using the Local Authorities (Elections) Act and other relevant pieces of legislation, Gecom has recognised the existence of a few legislative lacunae which need to be amended to provide for the elections to be conducted without hindrance…. The lacunae will very shortly be shared with the parliamentary political parties,” Gecom Public Relations Officer Vishnu Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday in an interview.

Key among the gaps is the provision for Nomina-tion Day to be “no less than the 21st day before Election Day.”  Persaud said Gecom is proposing that this provision be amended to allow for two days or more to be allocated for the Submis-sion of Lists of Candidates, considering that Lists would be submitted for 585 Constituencies in addition to the lists for the 71 Local Authority Areas.

Persaud explained that while Gecom’s readiness is seen by some as a political issue, the organisation was addressing concerns from a “Gecom factual perspective.” He stated that he would not be able to respond specifically to the question of readiness but added that Gecom has always been prepared and has required budgetary allocations to facilitate the process when need be.

“Every year we have been budgeting for, and Parliament had always approved, funds for the conducting of local government elections.  Again we have budgeted for the conduct of local   government elections in 2014, and we are confident that approval will again be given by Parliament,” he asserted.

Further, he explained that Gecom was in possession of a draft work plan for the conduct of local government elections.  This work plan puts the timeframe for the conduct of the elections at 180 days commencing from the announcement of a date for the holding of local government elections by order by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development.

The draft plan was being reviewed constantly, he pointed out, while adding that it contains several major statutory and administrative tasks, some of which will be implemented concurrently. “Demarca-tion of boundaries for some constituencies–an ongoing activity, acquisition of non-sensitive election materials, advertising/training/hiring of election day workers, public education, claims and objections, etcetera…,” Persaud explained.

He said while there might be questions over the fact that Gecom is still engaged with the demarcation of boundaries, it must be emphasised that due to the “dynamic expansion of housing” in some communities, the boundaries that were established have to be revisited to ensure that persons from these communities are guaranteed the right to contest and to vote at the elections. “It must be noted that boundaries are not static, rather they are dynamic and ever-shifting,” he added.

He said that education exercises are continuous as Gecom took the deliberate decision to have ongoing programmes publicising information about local government elections, with focus being placed initially on the new local government electoral system.  The public education strategy, he added, will change focus in an intensified manner on the processes and procedures associated with the new system when a date is identified for the elections.

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee two weeks ago said that government-nominated commissioners were doubtful about the commission’s readiness to hold local government elections.

“We get the distinct impression from our commissioners that it doesn’t seem that they are ready for local government elections,” he had told a news conference.

His announcement came in wake of the opposition using its majority in the National Assembly to pass an amendment that calls for the holding of the polls before August 1, 2014. Government did not support the bill and it is unclear whether the president would assent to the amendment bill.

Gecom has said that while it cannot and will never act outside of its authority by demanding local government elections be held, it is fully prepared and committed to move formally into an election mode with immediacy after a day to hold the elections was declared by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development.

the ppp is scare the wall start tumbling down and it can start with local government election

The PPP are not interested in local govt elections. They are quite happy to keep the current system in place where they can steal everything they can get their hands on.

the ppp is so good at stealing they steal nehru and skeltonman brain, wash it with shit and stick it back in their ugly head, now these two ugly fools have shit brains

Hello, you read the same news as most of us do, how come you come here and pose such silly question? The PPP is ready, but please re-read the statement below by GECOM. GECOM is an independent commission. They don't belong to the PPP.

He was born like that please forgive him.

you want some body give you a silly slap,i hope the ppp did not steal your brain too.you know what happen to the last two people brain the ppp steal

You want to take a pot shot at the PPP or you want to debate the subject rationally?

The only rational discussion is when in 2014 will Local Gov't elections be held.  For people who seem to think that a snap election is a priority its really interesting that local govt elections arent, when we consider that there havent been any for 20 years.

the ppp do not want local government election,this one way to keep some of their mini gods happy in the villages

CAN WE GIVE OUT A PHD IN DOTISHNESS TO THIS MAN

Majority of citizens not ready for local polls by August 1 deadline -Whittaker

Posted By Chevy Devonish On March 7, 2014 @ 5:28 am In Local News | No Comments

The vast majority of the populace is not prepared for the holding of local government polls by August 1st, according to Minister in the Ministry of Local Government Norman Whittaker, who says to go ahead would result in the waste of a lot of money.

Whittaker says that a lot more public awareness work has to be done so as to ensure that the public is knowledgeable and interested enough in the polls, which were last held in 1994.

This work is ongoing, the minister told Stabroek News, while also giving assurances that that he will give the order for local government elections when the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) says it is ready, and “when we are satisfied that the preparations are in place.”

Norman Whittaker

The opposition recently used its majority in the National Assembly to pass an amendment that calls for the holding of the polls before August 1, 2014. Although government tabled the bill for the postponement of the polls to a date on or before December 1, 204, it did not support it as amended by the opposition.

Whittaker told Stabroek News that more public education is needed before he can give an order to hold local government elections. He said that if elections were to be held now, only about 30% of the population would respond. The minister says that Guyanese typically do not attach much significance to elections, even at the national level, and he expressed concern that local elections might be treated with even less regard.

Young people in particular, many of whom were not even born when the 1994 local government elections were held, know nothing of local government elections, he noted. As a result, he predicts a very low turnout if elections were to be held by August 1st, in keeping with the demands of the opposition parties.

Meanwhile, although Whittaker has been saying that he must await notice from Gecom to indicate its readiness to the ministry for local government elections before he determines a date, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act 1990, Chapter 28:03 suggests otherwise.

Section 35 (1), of Part Three of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act clearly reads: “An election shall be held on such day as the Minister may by order appoint.” Following the order, the laws state that the order must be published in the Gazette and a copy thereof published by the local authority to which it relates—Gecom, in this case.

Section 36 (1) further states: “If the Elections Commission is satisfied that the holding of an election on election day would be attended by danger or serious hardship, the Commission may by order postpone the election to a day specified in such order, which day shall then, for the purposes of this Part, be election day.”

36 (2) of the Act reads: “Where the Minister is satisfied, on the advice of the Elections Commission, that it is impracticable to comply with the provisions of this Act or the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act 1990 regarding the date for the holding of an election to elect members of a local democratic organ, he may, at any time by order, postpone such date to a date specified in the said order or to a date to be specified in a subsequent order, the postponed date being not later than forty-eight months from the date on which the election should be held, and every person who is a councillor, including the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman, on the date on which the election should be held shall continue in, and discharge the function of, his office until his successor enters on the duties of his office.”

Each of the paragraphs referred to suggest it is the minister who must first name a date for local government elections, then wait on Gecom to say if the prescribed date is reasonable. Whittaker, however, maintains that he must wait on Gecom to state its readiness before he can name a date for local government elections.

Even if the matter were to be approached from the perspective of the minister, several Gecom officials have pointed out that the body can make all the needed preparations to hold local government elections within six months of receiving the relevant order from the Local Government Minister.

In a recent interview, Gecom spokesman Vishnu Persaud said the commission was in possession of a draft work plan for the conduct of local government elections, which puts the timeframe for the conduct of the elections at 180 days commencing from the announcement of a date identified by the minister.

Gecom has been officially mum on whether it thinks it can make the August 1st date.

Civil society bodies and western missions on Wednesday issued a joint statement pressing for these polls to be held.

 

The vast majority of the populace is not prepared for the holding of local government polls by August 1st, according to Minister in the Ministry of Local Government Norman Whittaker, who says to go ahead would result in the waste of a lot of money.

HOW DOES HE know this????  Bisram poll???

these fool is trying to fool the guyanese people again,the ppp have no respect for the people mentality and the people as a whole.this why they will remain a minority because the people is not ready to vote for the ppp says the ppp minister