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Close to two weeks after President Irfaan Ali said that there will be no Local Government Elections (LGE) unless and until the plethora of issues facing the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) are fixed, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo assured that the Elections will be held in 2021.
During a press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Friday, the Vice President said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is keen on holding Local Government Elections (LGE) and will make the necessary budgetary allocations to do so in 2021.
“Let me just say clearly that the People’s Progressive Party wants Local Government Elections next year. We believe that we can do extremely well in Local Government Elections and we are going to be working really hard, COVID or not, to ensure that we improve the lives of people in their communities right across the country,” Jagdeo told reporters.
Though assuring that LGE will be held in 2021 as constitutionally mandated, the Vice President underscored the need for the Elections Commission to restore its integrity having been faced with widespread allegations of electoral fraud during the country’s March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, which lasted five months.
Jagdeo said Government expects the Commission to rid itself of the “criminal elements.”
However, President Ali had made it clear that the elections machinery must be fixed before the conduct of LGE.
“I will not override anyone’s right to vote […] I am not getting into Local Government Elections now. What we have to do is fix what is there first to ensure we have a system that is working, a system that we can trust, a system that is professional, and a system that operates in an unbiased manner, so that the people of our country can have confidence,” the President had said.
