The main opposition PNCR has named its nominees for the special select committee examining legislative reforms for impending local government elections.
Stabroek News understands that PNCR Chief Whip Lance Carberry submitted the list of nominees to the Parliament Office two Fridays ago. Carberry along with MPs Basil Williams and Amna Ally are the nominees to the committee, which this newspaper has been told has begun its work. The other members are PPP/C MPs Minister Kellawan Lall, Gail Teixeira, Donald Ramotar, Bibi Shadick, Neil Kumar and Manzoor Nadir and AFC MP David Patterson. Lall, the Minister of Local Government, is the Chairman of the committee.
The PNCR had refused to name its nominees to the committee on the basis that all the relevant legislation had not been tabled, in keeping with a commitment made by the government. The AFC meanwhile indicated that its participation would be withheld until all the reform bills were tabled to allow for a holistic examination. The government only completed the introduction of all the proposed local government reform legislation in the National Assembly two Thursdays ago.
The bills the committee would be reviewing are the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2009, the Fiscal Transfers Bill 2009, the Local Government Commission Bill 2009, the Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2009 and the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2009.
Ironing out the proposed legislation had previously been the mandate of the Joint Task Force on Local Government Reform, which had been working for eight years to complete its work, which is seen as crucial to revamping the local government system. The enactment of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill would put in place an electoral system that mixed equally proportional representation and first past the post as the new legal framework for the holding of local government polls. It would also see local authority areas divided into constituencies to elect members of the municipalities and neighbourhood democratic councils-a task that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is making preparations to carry out. Under the law, GECOM would be empowered to combine or subdivide one or more electoral divisions to form a constituency for the purpose of electing members of that local authority.
The Fiscal Transfers Bill meanwhile seeks to give effect to the constitutional requirement for the formulation and implementation of objective criteria for the purpose of the allocation of resources to local democratic organs. The Bill sets out that the formula for fiscal transfers shall be based on “a set of conditions and stipulated performance indicators,” prescribed by regulations made by the Local Government Minister.
Ramotar said last week that all parties had agreed on “most of the fundamental features,” explaining that there is consensus on the electoral system and the system for fiscal transfers. He said “other issues” were not fundamental.
