Government is yet to decide when it will issue the order for GECOM to prepare for local government elections, President Donald Ramotar says.
Ramotar’s statements, offered during a press conference yesterday at the Office of the President, coincide with statements iterated by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government, Norman Whittaker. Whittaker has said that the electorate is not yet ready for polls and more work has to be done with them. Critics have skewered this explanation as being an excuse for avoiding local government polls. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has said that it is ready and awaiting the instruction of government.
The minister had also said that much more public education exercises are needed to raise interest in local government elections, thereby increasing the number of citizens who will participate in said elections. Until GECOM is ready and the public is properly sensitized, says Whittaker,