Delay a political ploy – Nandlall

Stalled Local Govt Commission

… says APNU/AFC frustrating the process

Despite the fact that the parliamentary Opposition has named its nominees to the Local Government Commission (LGC) since last year, the Government has so far failed to make a single nomination. And the deadlock is causing worry among observers.
In a recent interview, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall recalled that the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), when campaigning and trying to garner votes ahead of the General and Regional Election, had advocated for the Commission to be established.
That was over two years ago and now, the establishment of the
Commission is at a stalemate. He noted that the Commission was a fundamental part of the bills that APNU and AFC, as then Opposition members of the House, had pushed through using their combined one-seat majority.
“Clearly, at the time the APNU/AFC never thought that they would be in Government,” Nandlall posited. “When they eventually got into Government, they were trashed at the Local Government Elections. As a result, the PPP controls a majority of the Local Government organs throughout the country.”

Power as the end game
Comparing the inordinate delay with the LGC to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) imbroglio, Nandlall suggested Government was simply stalling and buying itself time by not nominating the Commissioners. And he gave reasons why.
“The constituting of the Commission would result in the loss of power of Minister (of Communities, Ronald) Bulkan over these Local Government Organs,” Nandlall said. “This power would move to the Commission, which is supposed to be comprised of nominees of both the Leader of the Opposition and the Government.”
“The Government obviously wants to continue to undermine the autonomy of these elected organs by controlling them through ministerial dictate, thereby defeating the will and franchise of the electorate at the Local Government Elections and preventing the elected representatives from discharging their lawful and democratic mandate,” Nandlall said.
Nandlall noted that the Leader of the Opposition had submitted his list of nominees for the Commission several months ago, while the Government has refused to do likewise on the grounds of an obscure technicality.
He stated that Minister Bulkan has raised the technical argument that the Opposition Leader did not consult with the other political parties in the National Assembly, in accordance with the law.
“The other parties in the House are APNU and AFC, both of which are in the Government (as partners),” Nandlall pointed out. “The law, clearly, was intended for the Leader of the Opposition to consult with any other Opposition parties.”
“Nevertheless, the Leader of the Opposition is in the process of consulting with the APNU and AFC on this issue. As expected, the (coalition) is doing everything possible to frustrate this process.”
Be that as it may, Nandlall assured that the Opposition Leader will continue to make every effort to conclude the consultation.

Broken promises
Responding to challenges from the media last year, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has on several occasions promised to have the Commission established within 2016, going so far as to set deadlines. One such deadline had been March 2016. When asked, during the latter part of the month, for an explanation, the Minister had moved the deadline to the end of June. Bulkan was quoted in sections of the media explaining that not only had Cabinet not considered candidates, but that there was no accommodation for the body.
In the 2016 Budget Estimates, some $30 million was allocated by Government to the non-functioning Commission. When asked, Bulkan had stated that this was to allow the Commission to operate independently to central government.
That was last year and in spite of these promises and protests from citizens against the delay, there is no functioning Local Government Commission. There have been calls for Government to release the qualifications of all Regional Executive Officers, to ensure that their positions were secured through merit and not political allegiance.
This came in the wake of reports that in some Local Authority Areas, officials are being appointed without any vacancy being advertised. In addition, there have been reports that young, qualified applicants are being overlooked in favour of other, more elderly appointees with questionable qualifications.
Article 78 (a) of the Constitution of Guyana sets out that “Parliament shall establish a Local Government Commission, the composition and rules of which empower the Commission to deal with as it deems fit, all matters related to the regulation and staffing of local government organs and with dispute resolution within and between local government organs.”
The Commission would, among other things, have control over who get appointed as officials in the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and other local authorities. In addition, it would have to approve budgets for the NDCs.
By law, the Commission is to be made up of eight members. These members will include four nominated from the Government, one from the unions and three nominees from the Opposition Leader. Former acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba, and former Local Government Ministers Norman Whittaker and Clinton Collymore were nominated as the PPP’s representatives on the Local Government Commission.
In addition, the Committee on Appointments had recommended that Andrew Garnett, of the Guyana Local Government Officers Union, be appointed as the union representative. This means that the Government is the only stakeholder yet to fulfil its responsibilities to nominate representatives to the Commission.