President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin held talks yesterday on issues of mutual concern, including local government elections.

In a statement, the Office of the President (OP) said Jagdeo was accompanied by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon and Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira, while PNCR Chairman Cammie Ramsaroop and party executive Allan Munroe were present with Corbin. According to OP, local government reform and movement on legislation currently before the house was the item of primary concern. OP noted that both Jagdeo and Corbin had agreed that the issue would be resolved at the parliamentary select committee level and that the committee should resume meeting. OP added that in the course of the meeting other matters were raised and some would be followed up accordingly.

Attempts to reach Corbin for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.

At the end of March, Jagdeo announced that a final attempt would be made to conclude the reform of the local government system, before the holding of the long-delayed elections. The ruling PPP agreed to the course of action after campaigning by the parliamentary opposition parties for the completion of agreed legislative reforms, as required under the Constitution. “I have discussed this with the People’s Progressive Party and they have very reluctantly agreed that we should make one last ditch attempt to resolve the issues raised by the opposition,” Jagdeo said. “We want to set a climate where we go into [general] elections in 2011 with very little controversy, so we are going to be engaging again, I think, through the parliamentary process to see if we can resolve the outstanding issues surrounding the other bits of legislation that were tabled in parliament.” Jagdeo did not indicate a timetable for the process, but said the date for the polls would be determined after the outstanding issues are resolved.

Prior to the decision to pursue the completion of the reforms, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally had urged the “early” settlement of local government reform, in order to allow preparations for the long-delayed elections to proceed without any impediments. “While we stand resolutely by our deliberate decision to prepare for the conduct of local government elections, we must acknowledge that it is not up to the commission to decide if and when this will be done,” he explained, adding that GECOM is also conscious of its “greater national responsibility” to ensure due compliance with the Constitution. “It is in this regard that we urge that the relevant stakeholders arrive at an early settlement and clear the way for GECOM to proceed with its work without impediment.”