Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall has disclosed that, in keeping with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s commitment, monies have been budgeted for the hosting of Local Government Elections (LGE) this year.
Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall
During his contribution to the Budget 2022 Debates on Friday, Dharamlall stated, “We believe in democracy [and] we believe in people’s choices. We believe that for our country to continue to evolve, for development to come flowing to our people, we must have Local Government Elections. We are going to have Local Government Elections this year, and we have budgeted billions of dollars…
“So, Local Government Elections (are) on the card for the Government during the course of this year,” he disclosed.
According to the Local Government Minister, the budget allocation for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which is to the tune of some $4.1 billion, contains funding to host the local government polls.
Moreover, Dharamlall pointed out that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Opposition have taken efforts to stymie the hosting of local government polls out of fear of losing key constituencies.
“They were scared of losing some of their NDCs (Neighbourhood Democratic Councils). But, you know what, come Local Government Elections, y’all will lose a lot of NDCs. You’re going to lose more constituencies,” the Minister asserted.
Local Government Elections are constitutionally due in Guyana every two years, and were last held in 2018.
While Local Government Elections were due in 2020, the elections fiasco that played out following the March elections that year resulted in LGE being deferred to last year.
But despite some $1.1B being budgeted in 2021, GECOM Chair Justice (retired) Claudette Singh had indicated last September that the agency was not in a state of readiness to host any election, since it was in the process of filling several senior posts at the GECOM Secretariat – a process that is still ongoing.
These senior posts within GECOM became vacant after former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, his Deputy Roxanne Myers, and former Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo were fired for attempts to sway the results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. They are currently before the courts facing electoral fraud charges.
It was only in December last that the Commission finally completed the appointment of a new Chief Elections Officer (CEO), namely Vishnu Persaud. The other top positions in the Secretariat are yet to be filled.
Roadmap
Earlier this week, GECOM’s Government-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj revealed that the electoral body is preparing a roadmap for the hosting of these elections.
“There are certain processes that have to be conducted and concluded as a precursor to the holding of the elections. One of the first processes is a registration exercise to ensure that the list is refreshed; and once that list is refreshed, there are certain functions which stem from that which of course will result in the holding of elections,” Gunraj explained. He added that the Commission is poised to ensure that those processes are concluded in a timely manner.
Further, Gunraj noted that the seven-member Elections Commission has since asked newly-appointed CEO Persaud to prepare a “roadmap” towards the hosting of these polls.
“We asked, at our last meeting, the Chief Elections Officer to prepare basically a roadmap which includes time and task from where we are currently to the holding of Local Government Elections and beyond. So, it’s our hope that once we get that done, we will start acting on that, and it is my personal hope that we can start acting on that with alacrity,” Gunraj said during a live social media programme on Monday evening.
At the last Local Government Elections in November 2018, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic Opposition secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the holding of LGE in 2016, during which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs.
After the 2018 LGE, GECOM spent over a year trying to get ready for snap elections that should have been held within three months of the then APNU/AFC Government falling to a No-Confidence Motion in December 2018.
Those elections were finally held on March 2, 2020, over a year later, but were then followed by a tumultuous five months’ impasse. The results were eventually declared by GECOM on August 2, 2020 after local and international pressure. (G8)
