-accuses ruling party of delaying

The Alliance For Change (AFC) yesterday urged the government to act on its promise to make “a last ditch effort to conclude the outstanding local government reforms,” and to reconvene the parliamentary select committee tasked with completing the work.

AFC MP David Patterson, who is his party’s representative on the committee, noted that three weeks have passed since President Bharrat Jagdeo stated his party’s interest in restarting work on the reforms but the select committee is still to be reconvened.  Speaking at a press conference held yesterday at the Sidewalk Café, Patterson stated that the AFC believes that if the PPP/C administration is seriously and fully committed to the holding of local government elections under a reformed governance system, the committee has to be reactivated immediately to conclude agreement on the outstanding bills. “Any further delays will be deemed undemocratic and will continue to deny the people of Guyana their desire to take control of the management of their communities, free from the direction of central government,” he said.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said last week that the administration intends to address the issue of the reforms in the parliamentary select committee.  He also ruled out the possibility that the government would move to re-establish a mechanism similar to the Local Government Reform Task Force, which was abolished last year after eight years of work.

Quizzed as to how optimistic the party was about the reforms being implemented, Patterson said that the AFC is committed to them and will be staying the course. Reiterating that the reforms were agreed upon by all political parties, Patterson suggested that the government may now be reluctant to agree to the reforms since it requires ceding the control of the system to “right-minded individuals.” He said that this was noted in the way the government had behaved previously when the other bills came up for discussion in the select committee. He was optimistic that a system that pleases everyone would be eventually implemented. The remaining bills before the select committee are the Fiscal Transfers Bill, the Local Government (Amend-ment) Bill and the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill.

Meanwhile, Patterson also said yesterday that the AFC was gravely concerned that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has apparently ceased its voter education campaign. “With the next local government elections being held under a new electoral system, we consider it absolutely necessary that GECOM should utilise this current period to expand on their voter education process,” Patterson said.  According to him, the campaign “will allow for the holding of local government elections immediately after the agreement and passage of the outstanding bills.”

Further, in light of recent allegations and counter claims regarding GECOM’s procurement policies, Patterson urged President Jagdeo to provide the Auditor General with all relevant information in connection with the matter, so that a detailed investigation can be undertaken.

The AFC has said that it will only participate in local government elections when the legislative reforms, agreed on by all parties and the international community, are in place. Local government elections have been due since 1997.