Awaited for so long, the March 18 Local Government Elections (LGE) presents an epochal opportunity for citizens to take back control of the running of their communities and to have an ongoing role in developments.
Having been denied the right to vote in these polls since 1994, there must be no shying away by citizens from their civic duty to appraise candidates and to cast ballots on the basis of the best programme presented. This year’s election incorporates First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) polling where members of the public will be able to vote for individuals and their declared programmes as opposed to the generic list. Half of the members on each council will be elected by FPTP and the other half by proportional representation. It means that the electorate in all of the municipalities and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) will be courted by two or more candidates in many cases. Members of the public should seize the opportunity to get to know their candidates, harry them on their programmes and ask them questions about the voting process on March 18.
As part of a series, yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek reported on the five-way contest in constituency one in Georgetown (Kingston/Queenstown among other areas) which will see three independent candidates going up against those from the ruling APNU+AFC and the PPP/C. What an extraordinary opportunity the public now has to choose candidates on the basis of merit and track record.
We applaud all those who have offered themselves up to participate in these polls and to serve on their councils. We particularly applaud those who are running outside of the two major parties. It takes a lot of determination and courage to challenge the candidates of the established parties. It is also an appropriate time to recognise the sacrifice of those who served on the councils from 1994 despite the decrepit state of local government and gave of their time and other resources.
It goes without saying that both the PPP/C and APNU+AFC will have a major advantage over these independent candidates in terms of organisation and resources. It had been hoped that the main parties would have seen the wisdom of not dominating the local government arena as they do at the national level. That was not to be. In the campaigning that will follow, all of the candidates must be able to conduct their activities without hindrance and intimidation. Negative campaigning should be eschewed as there are too many important issues at stake in communities that have been bereft of functioning local government.
APNU+AFC will have to ensure that state resources are not used to buttress the campaigns of any of its candidates or that of the coalition. APNU+AFC is acutely aware of how the PPP/C abused incumbency during general election campaigning particularly in 2006, 2011 and 2015. It wouldn’t want to be accused of the same. APNU+AFC should therefore go the extra mile and declare what steps it will take to ensure that there is no appearance of, or actual employing of state resources in the LGE.
In the period between now and March 18, the Guyana Elections Commission must disseminate widely and in multiple formats information on how the polls are to be run off and entertain as many questions as possible from members of the public.
In preparation for the aftermath of these elections, the government must move swiftly to clear the way for the establishment of the Local Government Commission and to ensure that the provisions of the Fiscal Transfers Act are scrupulously adhered to.
These 2016 elections which have been long called for are finally being held under APNU+AFC and the governing coalition must be complimented for this. March 18 offers a remarkable opportunity for the public to take back control of community affairs and they must seize this opening with both hands.
