Opposition leader David Granger yesterday announced plans for public protests to press demands for the holding of long delayed local government polls, following President Donald Ramotar’s failure to act on a request to set a date for them.
Granger made the announcement in an address to the nation last evening, in which he also demanded that Ramotar issue the commencement order to operationalise the Local Government Commission after a year-long delay and that he initiate a process by which the Local Government (Amendment) Bill—intended to strip ministerial control over local authorities—could be returned for assent.
“We have called on the president to simply set the date on which local government elections will be held. He has not done so. We have therefore embarked on a campaign of lawful, orderly, peaceful public protests–including picketing, rallies and vigils–to raise public awareness of the threat to our collective rights,” Granger said in his address, while urging all Guyanese to join the campaign to challenge the president to hold local government elections without undue delay.
Granger said the Guyanese people face “a grave threat to their constitutional liberties and privileges” and observed that the time has come for all good people “to demand their inalienable right to elect the persons they want to represent them in their towns, villages and neighbourhoods.”
His address came just three days after the expiration of a deadline he had given the president for naming a date for the polls, which have not been held since 1994. Local government elections are to be held every three years, according to the Constitution. In his letter to the president last week, in which he demanded the announcement of a date, Granger had warned that the failure of the head of state to act would see national and international support galvanised in defence of democracy.
Before his announcement yesterday, he had been vague about how his response would manifest. The plans for protests are significant in light of the fact that Granger has faced criticism in the past over his perceived disinclination to go the route of mass protest actions.
‘Obligation’
In his address, Granger said people’s quality of life will not improve unless they stand up against the further decline and degradation of communities and for democratic institutions and values.
He accused Ramotar and the PPP/C administration of attempting every method to derail the legislative process and to delay local government elections. He pointed to the president’s refusal to assent to the Local Government (Amendment) Bill—which is intended to strip ministerial control over local authorities—and the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill, which the opposition had amended to cater for the holding of the elections by August 1 this year. In the case of the first bill, the president said it was unconstitutional, while after months of delay on the second bill, he eventually said that the Elections Commission could not meet the date for the holding of the polls. He also noted that the president has failed to issue the ‘Commencement Order’ to operationalise the Local Government Commission, the bill for which was passed unanimously in August last year.
As a result, Granger charged that the president and the PPP have no interest in conducting local government elections. “They have no intention of complying with the mandate of the National Assembly. They have no inclination to deepen local democracy. They have no incentive to heed local and international opinion. They have no intention to respect the spirit and letter of our supreme law–the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” he said.
In March, he noted, several foreign missions and local non-governmental organisations issued a joint statement expressing their collective hope that local the polls would be held by August 1.
He argued that the president does not have the prerogative to deny the people their right to elect their own local and municipal leaders, their right to local democracy and their right even to know when the elections will be held. “The president has an obligation, not an option, to comply with the constitution and to conform to the laws of the country,” he said, while adding that the president needs to understand that local government elections, like general and regional elections, are a constitutional necessity. “He cannot postpone them indefinitely at his pleasure. Elections are not a favour or gift that the president bestows whenever he chooses to do so,” he added.
‘Near-total collapse’
Granger also accused the administration of “systematically” underfunding local democratic organs and undermining democratically-elected local councils. He said it has inhibited their development and impeded the provision of services to residents as well as rendered the 65 Neighbourhood Democra-tic Councils (NDCs) and six Town Councils ineffectual.
“The president’s attitude to local government has resulted in a near-total collapse in local governance. This is evident countrywide where our towns, neighbourhoods and villages suffer from unmanageable mountains of solid waste; unsanitary markets; unsightly surroundings and unlit and unsafe streets and alleyways,” he said. As a result, he added that the people must now take “any and all lawful actions” to defend local democracy, to uphold the constitution and to secure their civil rights. “We must combine the efforts, energies and enterprise of the entire nation in our campaign to restore local democracy to Guyana,” he declared.
In seeking the public’s support for the campaign, Granger emphasised the importance of the people working together through renewed municipal and neighbourhood councils to make their homes, villages and communities safe, sanitary, pleasant and prosperous.
“The demand for local government elections is a national necessity–a common cause. It is not a partisan project,” he said. “We the people deserve a good life. We demand that the president respect the constitution of Guyana. We demand that the president respect our democratic right to elect our own representatives,” he announced, before also calling for Ramotar to desist from obstructing the holding of local government elections and announce the date for them.
