Opposition Leader David Granger yesterday called on President Donald Ramotar to name a date by Monday for long-stalled local government elections otherwise national and international support would be galvanized in defence of democracy.
Granger’s call was contained in a letter to the President dated yesterday which his office released to the media and ups the ante on local government polls. The PPP/C government has come under severe criticism for not calling local government elections which have not been held since 1994.
In his letter, Granger reminded that the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill which was passed on February 10th this year directed that elections be held on or before 1st August 2014. The government did not support this bill and wanted the deadline extended to December 31st, 2014. The bill was not assented to by Ramotar neither was a new bill brought to cover the expiration of the August 1st deadline.
Granger’s letter further cited the importance attached to local government in the constitution and reminded Ramotar that the PPP/C’s own manifesto for the 2011 general elections said that within one year of these polls local government elections would be convened.
“We now call on you to respect the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana; to respect the decision of the National Assembly with regard to the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2014; and to respect your manifesto ?Working Together for a Better Tomorrow.
“We call on you, therefore, on or before Monday 2014.09.15, to announce the date for local government elections to be held countrywide; to issue the ‘Commencement Order’ to operationalise the Local Government Commission and to initiate a process by which the Local Govern-ment (Amendment) Bill could be returned for your assent.
“We wish to advise that, failing an announcement by you that local government elections will be held and that these legitimate democratic conditions are met, we shall be obliged to take any lawful action to mobilise national and international support in defence of local democracy, the Constitution and the rights of the Guyanese people”, Granger warned.
The PPP/C government has withheld local government polls for the last year or so without providing consistent and clear reasoning. Analysts have argued that the PPP/C is unwilling to risk a heavy defeat at local government polls prior to general elections.
Analysts say the timing of Granger’s letter to Ramotar is odd as the demands could have been made much earlier. Despite repeated calls for the elections to be held, the analysts note that neither A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) nor the Alliance for Change (AFC) mounted a concerted effort, as Granger is now speaking about, to pressure the government over local government elections. There has been no sustained campaign either in or out of Parliament. Indeed, the analysts point out that Parliament is in recess and therefore Granger doesn’t have any opportunity for embarking on action in the National Assembly.
The analysts say the letter to Ramotar would be seen as an attempt to capture some of the centre stage for APNU amid months of bad press for the coalition related to the Rodney Commission of Inquiry, the disciplining controversy over MP Vanessa Kissoon, the fiasco at its recent congress where several leading members challenged the fairness of the electoral machinery and the firing of a shot at Congress Place during voting for a new executive. Further, in recent days, the AFC has grabbed much of the attention by signalling who might be at the top of its ticket at the next general elections. The naming of former PPP firebrand Moses Nagamootoo and attorney Nigel Hughes as the likely top two has attracted a lot of publicity. The AFC also garnered much attention from pursuing a motion of no-confidence against the government to which APNU eventually accorded support. That motion is to be moved sometime in October and if passed with the opposition’s one-seat majority would see fresh general elections being held. This is seen as a further complication in Granger’s call yesterday for local government elections as there would have to be some distance between the two elections.
Up to press time there was no response from the PPP/C on the ultimatum from Granger but it is likely to face further pressure over the local government polls. In recent months, despite calls by the western nations and local groups for the elections to be held, the PPP/C government and the ruling party have offered a series of excuses which have been rebuffed.
These excuses have included that the local government system is complex and people need to be educated about it, that the Guyana Elections Commission was not prepared for the elections, the people were not in a mood for them and that the political situation in the country militated against the holding of these polls.
