THE PARLIAMENTARY opposition appears to be engaged in spawning a new propaganda game, one as amusing as the earlier spreading of mischief that President Bharrat Jagdeo is planning to seek a third consecutive term as Head of State.
That propaganda having been overtaken, the new and latest one seeks to generate doubts, and fears, about the likelihood of a postponement of the next general election, constitutionally due by August 2011.
Well, having repeatedly declared his lack of interest in seeking a third term (which can only be done by a constitutional amendment, which is an initiative he does not intend to encourage), President Jagdeo has now made it pellucidly clear that the national elections carded for next year MUST and will take place.
The Head of State, who is scheduled to leave the country today for London to participate in the initial two-day meeting of the High-Level United Nations Panel  on Climate Change, has gone even further in making clear his government’s commitment to foster a conducive national atmosphere for the 2011 elections.
While Opposition Leader Robert Corbin was making the point that unresolved issues over local government reform should not affect the holding of the scheduled 2011 general elections, President Jagdeo was quite forthcoming about his own intention.
As media reports have established, the Head of State has not only reaffirmed the government’s commitment to engage the political opposition in resolving differences pertaining to local government reform,  ahead of the fixing of a date for the local government elections.
He has stressed his administration’s anxiety to hopefully reach an accord with the parliamentary opposition on relevant reform measures, so that all eligible political parties can participate in the 2011 elections in an atmosphere of civility and political maturity.
Therefore, the task ahead, one quite challenging, is to avoid what is certainly most undesirable, and that is for the government and opposition to seriously work together, in a spirit of reconciliation, to achieve an acceptable formula for reforming the local government system in order to have local government elections this year, even though later than originally intended.
Having already discussed the matter at a recent meeting with Opposition Leader Robert Corbin, President Jagdeo has now given the assurance that on his return home from his overseas mission, he plans to press ahead with efforts to promote the desirable reforms so that GECOM could continue advancing arrangements for local government elections to take place in 2010.