– warns govt over IMCs, denying citizens their right
Warning that it will fiercely oppose any attempt to delay the Local Government Elections, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) said it will heap pressure on the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) should there be moves to thwart the will of the Guyanese people.
Held every three years, Local Government Elections are due in 2021, however, President Irfaan Ali and the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall have said elections would not be held until the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is transformed into a non-bias and trustworthy system in its facilitation of national elections.
On Wednesday, APNU+AFC Members of Parliament Dawn Hastings-Williams and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley said the coalition will resist attempts by the PPP/C Administration to create a crisis situation within the Local Government System, so as to install Interim Management Committees (IMC), as it would have done in the past.
“The none holding of Local Government Elections, the installation of PPP handpicked persons to dominate local communities and the use of PPP controlled cronies to give away lands in these communities to friends, families and the PPP elite will not be tolerated by the APNU+AFC Coalition. It will be fiercely opposed,” Hastings-Williams said.
At the time, she was addressing reporters during a virtual press conference.
Article 12 of the Constitution states that “Local government by freely elected representatives of the people is an integral part of the democratic organization of the State.”
Further, Article 71 details that “local government is a vital aspect of democracy and shall be organized so as to involve as many people as possible in the task of managing and developing the communities in which they live.”
In demanding that Local Government Elections be held in 2021, as required by Law, the APNU+AAFC Member of Parliament further pointed to Chapter 28:02, which states that: “Except as is otherwise provided for in this Act, the term of office of councillors shall be three years commencing on the first day of January after the declaration under section 101 of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act of the election results for the village.”
While the coalition is alarmed by the sentiments of both the President and the Attorney General, Hastings-Williams said it is not surprised given the PPP/C’s track record.
In its 23 years in office (1992-2015), the PPP/C had conducted Local Government Elections once in 1994. Notably, it was not until the APNU+AFC took office, that Local Government Elections were held in 2016, and again in 2018.
“It was the APNU+AFC Coalition under President David Granger which proudly restored Local Government Elections in Guyana. Two Local Government Elections were held during our term, with the first being held after our government was in office for less than a year,” Sarabo-Halley said while weighing in on the issue.
Reminding that Local Government is a foundational pillar of democracy, the APNU+AFC Member of Parliament said Guyanese should resist any attempt to deny them of their right to Local Government Elections. Further, she said the wanton and arbitrary installation of the infamous Interim Management Committees in Town Councils and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, should also be fiercely rejected by the Guyanese people.
“The PPP installed IMCs throughout this country in an effort to control Town Councils and NDCs and subvert the will of the people. It is clear, from the signals of the PPP that they are setting up to return to installing IMCs while denying citizens the right to elect their local leaders in a fair and credible manner,” Sarabo-Halley said.
She added: “Citizens MUST be given their democratic and constitutional right to elect their local leaders without delay or hindrance. Citizens must be able to freely elect leaders who they hold responsible for the management and development of their communities and must not have the PPP imposed handpicked persons in their communities via the reviled and hated IMC policy of the PPP regime.”
The APNU+AFC Parliamentarian said the PPP/C should stop playing games with Local Government Elections which have been restored to the democratic fabric of the country.
Both Sarabo-Halley and Hastings-Williams said the Government should make the finances available to GECOM in 2021 for the facilitation of the Elections. But while they championed the need for the holding of Local Government Elections, the Parliamentarians underscored the need for there to be House-to-House Registration to pave way for a clean Voters’ List.
It is their belief that House-to-House Registration and Local Government Elections can be held in 2021.
