– as ID cards production delayed
A delay in the start of national identification (ID) card production has put plans to run off belated local government elections this year in doubt.
Stabroek News has been informed that the contract with De La Rue, the commercial security printer and papermaker, to produce identity cards was signed last month and the production of cards is not expected to begin until early to mid October, just over a month before the scheduled deadline for the polls.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been working towards a November 30, 2009 deadline for running off the local government elections, which have been due since 1997. This newspaper was told that GECOM was supposed to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo to discuss the developments but that meeting was postponed.
Although the official GECOM work plan timetables the holding of polls at the end of November, the delay in ID card production and distribution would push the date forward into the new year and into a potential conflict with the election cycle for the 2011 general elections.
President Jagdeo has been adamant that local government polls need to be held this year and the government abandoned the Joint Task Force on Local Government Reform earlier this year in favour of a parliamentary review of legislation crucial to revamping the local government system. 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 are currently before a parliamentary select committee. While spokesmen for the governing PPP/C has indicated that there are no fundamental disagreements on the legislation, the parliamentary opposition parties, the PNCR-1G, AFC and GAP-ROAR, have maintained that there is need for consensus on the entire legislative package before local government polls are run off.
AFC MP David Patterson told Stabroek News last week that his party remains willing to do everything necessary to conclude the work at the committee level, even if it means returning to National Assembly during the parliamentary recess to finish it. “Our point remains the same, they must be dealt with as a package,” he said, “We are not willing to entertain a piecemeal approach.”
According to him, the governing party has proposed treating the bills in the order they were laid in the National Assembly but he emphasised that his party expects the legislation to be dealt with as a whole. He noted that the government had made similar commitments in the past, citing the agreements of the National Stakeholder’s Forum. After more than a year, Patterson observed, it is still to name its nominees to the Public Procurement Commission. “We have reservations about a piecemeal approach,” he said. “We want and established timetable and we need some definitives.”
He said while there are principle agreements on the fundamental framework for the local government system, core issues are still contentious in some of the legislation, including the formula for fiscal transfers as well as the way in which commissioners would be appointed to the Local Government Commission. The bill for the commission has raised eyebrows as it proposes that the commission have six members; three to be appointed by the President, in accordance with his own deliberate judgement; two to be appointed by the President after he has consulted with the Opposition Leader; and one other member appointed by the Local Government Minister after he has consulted with local democratic organs.
Patterson said the committee has discussed the Local Authorities and Local Government Commission bills, but was yet to conclude any deliberations. He said issues to be resolved include those raised by the international donors in a recent letter to Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall, who chairs the select committee.
Last week the major international donors–the US, the UK, Canada and the European Delegation–indicated that the three principal bills, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2009, the Local Government Commission Bill 2009 and the Fiscal Transfers Bill 2009, are “interdependent” and “mutually reinforcing.” As a result, they emphasised the importance of them proceeding together through the process of parliamentary debate, passage and implementation.
In their letter, the donors also said that the Fiscal Transfers Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill would be strengthened with “more precision” in setting timelines for the development and implementation of the formula for fiscal transfers, and for the operationalization of the commission. Further, for the commission to succeed, they argued, it must be seen to act impartially, competently and effectively and they recommended that Parliament look at the process for appointment to ensure it is inclusive and is seen to be able to act independently in accordance with its mandate under statute.
The donors are also critical of the fact that the legislation retains much of the discretionary powers available to the minister, which they noted has been the subject of considerable debate and a continuing concern of local councils, particularly at the municipal level. As a result, they suggested that regulations for the legislation could set out transparent criteria for the exercise of ministerial discretion and that the legislation itself could describe the ministerial powers as exceptional rather than routine. Additionally, they proposed that the National Assembly consider creating a standing committee for local government to facilitate continuing dialogue on its future, following the implementation of enacted reforms and provide oversight of the Local Government Commission, while also emphasising the need for voters to be fully informed about the new electoral process.
According to Patterson, the AFC has already taken similar positions on the legislation, including the need for an integrated approach, the recognition that there is still too much ministerial control inherent in the proposed laws and the importance of voter education. He added that the party would also support the creation of a standing committee on local government.
Meanwhile, noting that GECOM is still working towards a November 30 deadline, Patterson called it an unrealistic schedule and he made it clear that the party would not settle for shortcuts to achieve an election this year. He said there has been talk of the possibility of reusing old ID cards but he said this was “a definite no-no,” since they have been linked to a questionable database.
Meanwhile, PNCR leader Robert Corbin has warned GECOM that it would put the entire preparations for local government elections in jeopardy if, following the completion of the house-to-house registration process, it bypasses the stage of publishing a new National Register of Registrants (NRR), which has been accepted by the parties as being accurate, before the extraction and publication of a Preliminary Voters’ List (PVL).
The PNCR said on Friday that Corbin raised the concern in view of apparent actions, on the part of GECOM, to bypass the very vital requirement of ensuring that the new NRR is accepted by all stakeholders. According to the party, it would then provide the basis for the extraction of a PVL, in preparation for local government elections, as well as the start database for periodic up-dating through the continuous registration process.
