Govt. assures GECOM of immediate move towards LGE

Aug 29, 2015 News

…once draft amendments green-lighted
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan has assured the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of an immediate move towards the long awaited Local Government Elections (LGE), once the Commission has green-lighted draft amendments for Parliamentary passage.

The Minister’s assurance came at a meeting between his Ministry and the Commission yesterday, which was called to discuss the existing state of affairs with regard to conducting LGE.

Along with the Minister was a senior team from the Communities Ministry, which included Permanent Secretary Emil McGarrell. Chief Election Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud and Legal Officer Juanita Barker among others represented the GECOM contingent.

The last time LGEs were held in Guyana was almost two decades ago under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration. Before being elected to office at the May 2015 Regional and General Elections, the coalition A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) promised Guyanese an expedient holding of LGE. During his presentations at Parliamentary sittings, Minister Bulkan had said that the country can expect LGEs before the end of the year.

According to a statement from the Commission, the meeting was held at Lowenfield’s request to clarify issues of mutual concern to GECOM and the Ministry of Communities in relation to Local Government Elections. Lowenfield highlighted to Minister Bulkan the need for prerequisites, which were outside the remit of the Commission and needed to conclusively be addressed.

During the CEO’s presentation, he made it clear that GECOM cannot arbitrarily proceed to prepare a Preliminary List of Voters to conduct its Claims and Objections period in order to finalise the respective Registers of Voters necessary to conduct LGE in the 65 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and the six Municipalities in Guyana.

Existing legislation surrounding the Preliminary List of Voters requires that the Lists be prepared from the Official List of Electors. Said list was last used for the 1992 General and Regional Elections.

Therefore the legislation must be amended to clear the way for the Lists to be extracted from the up-to-date National Register of Registrants.

The proposed (draft) amendment, among others, has already been prepared in one document with consultations between GECOM’s legal personnel and the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

The entire document will be in GECOM’s possession and the Commission will give the go ahead for the amendments to be taken to Parliament for the Government’s approval. Until GECOM is given the legal authority to extract the Preliminary List of Voters, the Commission cannot move forward with its Work Plan to conduct LGE.

Lowenfield pointed out that Minister Bulkan in his capacity as Minister of Communities, along with the need for the enforced amendments, is required to issue an Order declaring the Local Authority Areas in which Local Government Elections will be held.

Moreover, the CEO stressed that housing communities at the Municipalities of Corriverton, Anna Regina and Bartica’s Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) had grown beyond their respective boundaries.

Lowenfield explained that the authority to extend the boundaries of these Local Authority Areas is vested in the Minister of Communities and urged that the matter be addressed promptly. This, he said, would ensure that concerned citizens are given the opportunity to participate in the LGE.

During his presentation, Minister Bulkan assured that his Ministry will move immediately after GECOM green-lights the draft amendments to have them approved by Parliament.

He further assured the Commission that his Ministry will be focusing attention towards addressing the publication of the Order declaring the Local Authority Areas in which Local Government Elections will be held. In addition, the Minister will address concerns about the boundaries of the Municipalities of Corriverton, Anna Regina and the Bartica NDC.