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GECOM officials, opposition doubt LGE possible in November
(Kaieteur News) – With exactly 19 weeks remaining before the November deadline, the possibility of Local Government Elections (LGE) being held this year is facing increasing doubt. In an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chief Election Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud clarified the strict procedural boundaries blocking immediate progress.
“Unless a plan for local government is approved by the commission, such a plan cannot and will not be activated,” Persaud stated.
Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud
Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander echoed these concerns, telling Kaieteur News that pulling off the elections under the current timeline “does not look very feasible.” Alexander suggested that the apparent inertia might be a deliberate political choice. “I get the impression that some people are not keen on local government. They like the situation as it is,” he noted.
Opposition GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander
According to Alexander, if the deadline cannot be met, the government will have to seek parliamentary recourse. “They would have to go to the parliament and move a motion for postponement…that is not unprecedented,” he explained, pointing to historical precedents.
“For some part of that period, when local government reforms [were underway], the parliament used to postpone it. That was around 2008, 2009. So, for some time, for eight years, you were doing reform and the parliament was postponing the elections.”
Opposition alleges tactic, minister silent
Weighing in on the delays, Aubrey Norton, former opposition leader chairman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), spoke directly on the matter during a June 9th broadcast on KAMStv.
“I see what is happening as part of a wider PPP [People’s Progressive Party] tactic possibly to postpone the Local Government Election,” Norton claimed. However, he rejected any notion that commission vacancies or structural issues were the root cause of the gridlock.
“I don’t see anything that prevents the elections commission from meeting because based on law it is legally constituted.”
Minister of Local Government, Priya Manickchand, was unavailable for comment when contacted regarding the opposition’s allegations and the status of election preparations.
Echoes of 2021
The current impasse strongly mirrors the events of 2021, when LGE suffered an official postponement. Under a Gazetted Order signed by the former Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall. Those elections were legally deferred in accordance with the Local Authorities Elections Act.
The 2021 deferral came after GECOM officially advised the government that it was technically unable to host the polls within the legally stipulated window.
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