After spending $1.5 billion, very little will change after LGE

Nov 04, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
Nov 12th, the date set for LGE will come and go. Over 1.5 billion dollars will be spent on LGE elections. There will be very few changes in personnel in the present configuration of the NDCs and townships. One point five billion dollars would be wasted under the auspices of taking democracy to the grassroots. Would the citizenry receive any improvement in the quality or quantity of services in their communities? I think not.
The LGE commissioners had the right idea when they went to the drawing board to devise a system for LGE. The triumvirs, selected by the coalition and the PPP, because of political expediency , did not go the whole “nine yards”. They both wanted to use the LGE to provide a head count for their respective parties in Local Govt. Elections. Nothing seems to change in politics! The result was the continued politicization of every square inch of our landscape along party lines. Given our already high polarization, we have drifted further away from the theory of social cohesion, pontificated by the present Coalition govt. The political parties on the LGE ballot only serves to put the people against each other in the lower strata of society-widening the racial divide, all for useless political clout.
I see no reason why the political parties should want their names etched in the day to day affairs in our communities, except to further divide us to keep us under subjection. Our poor support for the independent contestants at the last LGE indicates that we are contributing to our own demise by following the parties like lemmings. I see no wisdom in the names of the political parties being on the ballot for LGE. I have no problem with political parties supporting candidates to run in LGE election but the name of a political party should not be on the LGE ballot ,period. Can’t we as a people try something different and support the individual candidates in an election that will not decide who runs the Country? LGE offers the perfect scenario for voters to show the politicians how discontented we are.
Agitations and tensions within councillors are rife at the NDCs. The quality nor quantity of services to the people did not improve and will not improve under the present LG system. Political insularity into the system of Local Government (LG) defies the whole purpose of what LG should be.
President Granger in his LGE campaign in Essequibo told the people that LGE is not about politics. He told Essequibians, “Elect someone who is multi-talented and willing to work, not because they belong to a political party but because they are prepared to work for the people of region two.” The Man has the right idea. How does his statement coincide with the names of the political parties being on the ballot. Political expediency is the reason for the triumph of evil over good!
LGE will never improve the services to citizens in their communities in the present scenario. The politicians will continue to push mediocre and uncaring people to run our affairs. As long as we continue to receive them with open arms (vote for them) our lot in life will never improve.
As it is; the politicians on both side of the divide (APNU/ PPP) have issued a call for their supporters to provide a head count in anticipation of the 2020 General Elections and their supporters will gleefully respond. We are shooting ourselves in the foot with our present mindset.

Rudolph Singh

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