Minister of State Joseph Harmon has dismissed speculations that the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will contest the March 18 Local Government Elections (LGE) separately.Harmon, who is also APNU General Secretary, told the Guyana Chronicle that the coalition which surged to power in the May 11 elections, will be contesting the LGE together.
“We had a Cabinet retreat some time ago and agreed on the matter,” he said.

Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive Dr David Hinds in his weekly column ‘Hind’s Sight’ carried by this publication on Sunday, said despite temptations to the contrary, the governing coalition should contest the LGE together. The WPA is a member of the six-party coalition led by President David Granger.
“The first big hurdle would be whether the governing coalition would contest the election together or separately,” he said. Though many may consider it to be a foregone conclusion that the coalition would go into LGE as one, Dr Hinds, a seasoned political activist believes that the AFC may be tempted to compete separately. There has been much speculation as to the path the coalition would take with respect to competing at the LGE.
In a Sunday Stabroek News headlined “AFC will keep its identity…”, party co-leader and Minister of National Security Khemraj Ramjattan maintained that the AFC will keep its identity.  “We are going to maintain ourselves as AFC,” he said, adding: “I would rather resign as leader of the AFC than have that happen,” Stabroek News quoted him as saying. AFC General Secretary David Patterson, who is also Minister of Infrastructure, told this publication on Sunday that the party will make public his decision shortly on whether it will be contesting the LGE separately or with the APNU. The LGE, Dr Hinds contends is going to be a referendum on the government’s tenure since May 11.
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“Ironically, it would be a referendum against its own supporters,” he said, pointing out that the challenge the coalition faces, whether it runs as one or separately, is mobilising its supporters to go to the polls. “My sense is that it would take some serious work that would be better done if they contest as a united coalition.” The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has said that it is prepared at any time to contest the LGE.
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan last week announced that the long delayed Local Government Elections (LGE) will be held on March 18 next year. He said the hosting of LGE represents “an important time in our history,” stressing that “the entire local government system is currently rotten and must be rehabilitated and made fully functional.”
The polls will be held in the nine towns and 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). Local government polls have not been held since 1994 although the Constitution stipulates that they are to be held every three years.  Bulkan said that “democratic renewal of local government organs is long overdue.” The Minister of Communities also noted that “the last local government elections were held here in 1994. Since then, there have been several protests against the former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) demanding that power be returned to the people to enable them to effectively manage their communities.  “A functioning local government system is a fundamental aspect of democratic governance. It is important because it deals with people’s lives in their communities. Strong local government is at the heart of national development because who wields decision-making power at the municipal and neighbourhood levels directly determine and decide where and how your tax dollars will be used to develop individual communities and ultimately, the nation,” he noted.
As a result, Bulkan said development at every level is important and depends on a “strong system of good, democratic, effective and efficient local governance.” Citing Article 12 of the Constitution of Guyana which states that local government is an integral part of the democratic organisation of the State, Bulkan said government is committed to upholding the rule of law.
Local governments, he said, are in place to provide essential services to the people and help to improve living conditions, create jobs, maintain roads, bridges and other infrastructure, garbage collections, and promoting a healthy environment while encouraging citizen’s involvement in their communities.

By Ariana Gordon