Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan yesterday announced that local government elections, which have been delayed for almost two decades, would be run off on Friday, March 18th, 2016.
Bulkan made the announcement at a news conference at the ministry’s Fort Street office, where he stressed that the election of new leaders in the nine towns and 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) would usher a break from the past as they would not be subject to interference by central government.
“When we elect new local leaders on March 18, 2016, we will be making a break with the ways of the past; the new leaders will not just replace the old ones. The new, democratically elected officials will be empowered according to law, and they will be expected to perform their decision making roles, according to law.
They will not be subject to domination and control by central government,” the minister stressed.
Although the polls are constitutionally due to be held every three years, they have not been held since 1994.
APNU and AFC, the two main parties in the current coalition government, had lobbied vigorously for the holding of local government elections while in opposition. During their campaign for the May 11th elections, they had made a commitment to setting a date for the early holding of the local polls in the coalition’s first 100 days in office.
That period elapsed without this being done primarily because of legislative requirements and the need for the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) to pronounce on its readiness for the polls.
In underscoring the need for the polls, Bulkan said they are essential because the entire local government system is currently “rotten” and must be rehabilitated and made fully functional.
Bulkan enumerated the rights and duties of local democratic organs as expressed in Articles 12, 74 and 75 of the Constitution as he explained that “a functioning local government system is a fundamental aspect of democratic governance [since] development at every level, depends on a strong system of good, democratic, effective and efficient local governance.”
He noted that government at the grassroots level – local government – was embedded in Guyana’s system of political administration on Tuesday the 5th of August, 1980, when the Local Democratic Organs Bill was passed in the National Assembly. This legislation was further strengthened following the local government reform process initiated in the aftermath of the 1997 general elections and the ensuing menu of measures accompanying the Herdmanston Accord. As a result, five new pieces of legislation—the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act 2009, the Municipal And District Councils (Amendment) Act 2013, the Fiscal Transfers Act 2013, the Local Government Commission Act 2013 and the Local Government (Amendment) Act 2015—were passed.
He told the news conference that the new leaders will have the power to make decisions that affect citizens living within the respective municipalities and neighbourhood democratic councils.
Asked about the preparedness of Gecom to educate persons about how to participate in these elections, Bulkan noted that “Gecom currently has a work plan that provides for an aggressive and comprehensive voter education campaign for which funding is already in place.”
Recently, Deputy Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud said potential candidates at the upcoming local government elections are among those who don’t understand the new electoral system that will be used and as a result Gecom plans “a comprehensive engagement” with them.
Gecom has launched Claims and Objections exercises, which will run until December 6th and December 13th, respectively.
During the process, persons who will be 18 years and over by February 29th, can make claims to have their registration recorded at the address in the constituency in which they live, either as new registrants or by transfer.
In addition, they will be allowed to make objections to entries in the lists in their respective constituencies. Other transactions, such as corrections and change of name, supported by the appropriate source documents, will also be permitted during this period.
Bulkan and the government had originally signaled that they were anticipating local government elections before the end of the year.
However, Gecom highlighted several legislative changes which were necessary before elections could be held.
Consequently, the government crafted and successfully passed the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2015, which was intended to enact crucial changes for the polls to be carried out in an efficient manner, such as the movement of Nomination Day from 21 days to 50 days before election day.
This bill also cleared the way for the extraction of the preliminary voters’ list from the National Register of Registrants (NRR), instead of from the 1992 Official List of Electors, as was previously provided for in the law.
