Dear Editor,
You headline titled, `APNU+AFC took all seats on city finance committee – despite nomination of Team Legacy member’ (SN April 05) sums up accurately another glaring deficiency of our local government system that renders it a joke that is not even funny anymore. There are many private citizens and social commentators who are silent on this issue and the media goes along for the ride with little or no analytical lens applied.
What sense does it make for all those independent candidates across the country who would have earned seats in local government organs if they structurally stand no chance of being effective in influencing the decision making processes of their local government body?
The reality of Guyana’s politics, at both national and local levels, is that the vast majority of citizens vote along historical party lines and one can more often than not predict which local organ will go in majority to which party.
If examples like what took place for the appointment of the Georgetown finance committee continue and citizens see that the independent or group candidate(s) that they elected has no real influence on a Council dominated by the big parties, then they will begin to question why did they even bother to vote, which in turns leads to apathy and disillusionment in the system.
I sincerely hope that constitutional reform touches on the local government system and that minority elected groups are given statutory quotas to serve on important committees of local government organs.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
