CABINET at its last meeting reaffirmed the commitment by the administration to the holding of Local Government Elections in 2009, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon reported at a post-Cabinet news briefing last week at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive in Georgetown.

&#inet felt that notwithstanding the link between Local Government Reform and Local Government Elections — the opposition and others have been trying to rally around questions concerning alleged government’s intention to have the elections without discharging their commitment to reform,” he observed.

That claim, Cabinet is insisting is totally without merit,” Dr. Luncheon declared.

The PPP administration is quite clear about that and is quite clear that it will not allow again bilateral engagements not sanctioned by law to lead to inordinate delays in completing the legislative aspect of Local Government Reform commitments for which the administration has made and for which binding obligations exist,” he said.

?t the end of the day, Local Government Reform specifically those relating to Local Government Elections ends with a legislative mandate – it becomes a legislative issue,” he pointed out.

Dr. Luncheon explained: “One that can only be resolved by the enactment of enabling legislation to allow Local Government Reform to be carried out under the commitments, under the understanding and under the constitutional provisions that speaks to Local Government Reform.”

Meanwhile, replying to questions concerning the action taken last Tuesday by owner of a GECOM building, Mr. Kenrick Thomas, Luncheon said: “I am certain that you are aware that the building that houses the Secretariat is the issue here and were the efforts made in the earlier part of the week, had they not been thwarted, there would have been again another opportunity for delays in the preparation for Local Government Elections.”

Tremendous amount of work is ongoing and with the set delivery date for Local Government Elections, one often wonder whether these events — locking the GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) Secretariat staff and preventing them from getting their work done – whether in these are some nexus with causing a delay,” he pondered.

However, he reiterated that at the end of the day they were thwarted. “I think the government’s position is that there are specific remedies to deal with issues surrounding tenants and landlord that we have been indeed as far as the landlord is concerned, historically, we have been the most appropriate tenant paying the rental and discharging our obligations.”

This unilateral effort to deny GECOM the access and occupancy indeed had to be dealt with aggressively in terms of the time and of course to have the matter scheduled for pursuit at a legal level,” he stated.

…we are not all committed to conspiracy theories but indeed, as we look at Local Government Elections and we look at the flurry of steps, interventions and allegations being made about government’s commitment – it does not take much to perhaps even wonder whether in addition to those attitudes, whether in addition to those interventions, that something as purposeful as preventing the Secretariat work in preparing for Local Government Elections is not part of the entire package,” Luncheon asserted. (PRIYA NAUTH)