The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) has said it is awaiting a response from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on replacing the designated candidate for its seat on the Region Eight Regional Democratic Council (RDC), which is expected to pave the way for the body to be finally sworn in after months of delay.
LJP spokesman John Flores yesterday told Sunday Stabroek that the party has submitted new names to GECOM after designated councillor Jimmy James indicated that he no longer wished to represent it on the council due to health concerns.
However, Flores said to date the party has not received an acknowledgement from the commission.
“After he told us he no longer wants to be a councillor we sought to change that and submitted new names to GECOM but we haven’t heard from them and I am not sure if that is causing the hold up,” he explained when contacted by this newspaper.
Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall on Friday expressed hope that the RDC would be officially installed in a few weeks, while maintaining that its absence will not hamper the preparation of a regional budget.
“As you are aware, we have had an issue with one of the political parties and their councillor and very soon a new council will be in place. Hopefully in the next few weeks…,” Dharamlall told reporters on the sidelines of the swearing in of Mayors and Deputy Mayors on Friday.
The members of the country’s nine other RDCs were sworn in at the end of September. Due to the delay, main opposition APNU+AFC has accused the governing PPP/C of delaying the swearing in of the RDC in order to lay the groundwork to win the chairmanship of the region when votes are cast among councillors.
Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Friday during his first press conference for 2021 accused the government of seeking to punish the residents of Region Eight by not cooperating to have the Regional Democratic Council sworn in. “They are punishing the people of that region by refusing to install the RDC and the officers. Because the PPP cannot have its way, the people of Region Eight must suffer. This is the nature of the PPP we having to deal with,” Harmon said during the virtual presser.
AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan has said that the crux of the delay is due the refusal of James to support a PPP/C candidate for Chairperson and Vice Chairperson but Flores yesterday refuted the claim. He said the move to replace James, at his own his request, was due to his deteriorating health.
The LJP holds the balance of power on the council, since the government and main opposition coalition APNU+AFC each hold seven seats. The vote is, therefore, crucial to the elections of Chair and Vice Chair of the Council.
Flores indicated that James was one of the councillors who tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in the postponement of the first attempt to swear in the elected members of the RDC. A second meeting, slated to be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), was derailed when Regional Executive Officer (REO) Mitzy Campbell cancelled it. She had claimed that two of the 15 councillors “had emergencies”.
Meanwhile, Dharamlall on Friday said that the old council, which remains as the interim governing body for the region, has been conducting consultations to prepare the regional budget.
“In the meantime those who are still ‘councillors,’ they have been reaching out to persons who are still eligible to be councillors on the new council… [and there] has been collaboration [on the preparation of the budget]. There are about 80 indigenous communities in the regions and they have also held consultations with them,” the minister pointed out when asked if the absence of the RDC would delay the preparation for the budget.
