Latest update December 19th, 2024 3:22 AM
Govt. proposes to increase local authority areas
Minister of Communities,
Ronald Bulkan
Government anticipates redrawing some boundaries to provide for an increase in the number of local authority areas for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).
According to Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, this was communicated to the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice James Patterson (ret’d) during a meeting to discuss preparations for LGE.
“GECOM has been forewarned and alerted and they have been asked specific questions based on the schedule of organs that has been provided to them if they anticipate or foresee any challenges for the holding of elections in any of these in what will be actually be 80 areas and not 71 as was the case in 2016,” Bulkan pointed out.
At the 2016 LGE, there were 71 Local authority areas which comprised six Municipalities and 65 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).
“I have not had a formal response from the Commission save to except that I have heard that they anticipate no challenges to ensure the successful holding of these elections,” the Minister pointed.
During the meeting with the GECOM Chairman, Bulkan stated that he indicated the intention of the administration to ensure that LGE is held by the constitutional due period, which is no later than the December 7.
“I went further to say that the date we are looking at is somewhere around the middle of November, but the administration at the level of Cabinet has not made a determination as to what would be the precise date,” Bulkan stated.
OPPOSITION WORRY
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, said the People’s Progressive Party is very concerned about attempts to tamper with the local government bodies to gerrymander boundaries to suit the Government.
According to Jagdeo, the parties that form the Coalition Government suffered a crushing defeat at the 2016 LGE polls with the PPP winning 48 of the 65 NDCs, tied seven others and won three of the townships.
“Clearly, this bothered them and they know that they are facing another defeat in the future so to ensure that the optics is different; I heard Bulkan has been having discussions with GECOM that they want to create ten new local government bodies.
Once again, they will go to places like Mahdia where they believe there are pockets of strong support and without any consultation declared Mahdia as a township.
He stated that this was done in Lethem, Mabaruma and Bartica. According to Jagdeo, in many areas where you may have a village that voted predominately APNU in the last election they want to germander the boundary and create two new NDCs.
‘That is what is happening now because they fear another crushing defeat. We’re watching this closely like everything else in this Government, it’s murky. He [Bulkan] should be meeting with the Opposition to talk about these things to discuss boundaries and where they are drawn,” Jagdeo stated.
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