With the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) searching for top electoral officials and key preparations still to get underway, local government polls which were scheduled for before the end of this year will likely not be held before the fourth quarter of 2022.
This is the view of opposition-nominated GECOM commissioner, Vincent Alexander. Deferral of the Local Government Elections (LGE) which were due to be held in November or December this year will interrupt the sequence of two consecutive elections which were held under the APNU+AFC administration. After winning the 2015 general elections, the APNU+AFC government held LGE in 2016 after a 22-year hiatus under PPP/C governments. The elections were held again in 2018 and were due this year. With its track record of not holding LGE, analysts say that the PPP/C government will come under close scrutiny to ensure that the polls are held as soon as possible.
During a recent television programme with host Christopher Ram, GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander said that Guyana cannot expect LGE at the constitutionally mandated time.
“If local government elections are not held this year, which will not happen because they are due to be held in late November – early December and there has been no preparation, then the normal thing (is and which) Parliament has done in the past is to postpone them for one year. So you are not looking at a possible local government election until the fourth quarter in 2022,” Alexander said.
He added that the postponement of the elections would mean that government would also have to extend the lives of the Town Councils and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils for a year.
When asked by Ram about whether he feels that the postponement of LGE is tantamount to the denial of the right of Guyanese to elect their representatives thus violating one of the principles of democracy, Alexander posited that while it is a critical element of democracy, LGE is not afforded the standing it should have in Guyana.
Article 71 of the Constitution states “(1) Local Government is a vital aspect of democracy and shall be organised so as to involve as many people as possible in the task of managing and developing the communities in which they live. (2) For this purpose Parliament shall provide for the institution of a country-wide system of local government through the establishment of organs of local democratic power as an integral part of the political organisation of the state.”
GECOM is presently without a Chief Election Officer (CEO), Deputy CEO, Assistant CEO and several key personnel that are responsible for the running of elections. It is currently in the process of finalizing the key appointments in an effort to return the staff complement to normalcy.
Last week, Alexander told Stabroek News that it is “virtually impossible” for GECOM to host LGE when it is due since its former CEO Keith Lowenfield and DCEO Roxanne Myers, who are before a City Magistrate’s Court on various charges of misconduct during the 2020 general elections, were terminated by the vote of a majority of the Commission.
“The Minister [of Local Government and Regional Development] has to inform us [of] the date for the elections and for us to work towards that date. We may have done preparatory works — we should normally do preparatory work because we know the elections are to be called between November and December. Since the CEO left, nothing was done in preparation and as far as I know, we have not heard anything from the Minister, so it is virtually impossible for GECOM to be ready for the election at the end of November into December. So it is now a matter for the Minister and Parliament to determine,” Alexander had said during a brief telephone interview.
Following yesterday’s statutory meeting of GECOM, government-nominated Commissioner, Sase Gunraj related that while LGE was acknowledged, no decisive action was taken at the level of the Commission. When asked about whether the Commission would write to the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development indicating their inability to host the elections, Gunraj said that while that is possible, he cannot say if or when it would be done.
On Friday, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall told Stabroek News that he is waiting on GECOM to indicate its readiness before he can call a date for the elections.
“As far as elections are concerned, you know that GECOM conducts elections right. So we are awaiting GECOM to advise us on its readiness and as soon as they are able to do so, only then we will be able to call a date for the elections, so this is in spite of us budgeting [for LGE],” the Minister had said.
In the 2021 budget, the government allocated $1.1 billion for the holding of LGE before the end of the year. Some $237.7 million was scheduled to go towards the printing of 500,000 ballots and other publications, while $285.7 million was budgeted for voter education and other programmes. Additionally, $135.7 million was to go towards the training of elections day staff, $81.6 million for rental of buildings to conduct the elections and $75.6 million for meals.
