The Local Authorities (Election) (Amendment) Bill 2010 was yesterday passed in the National Assembly subsequent to its second and third readings.
It amends the Local Authorities (Elections) Act to provide for the postponement of elections of Councillors of local democratic organs and shall be deemed to have come into operation on November 01, 2010. The amendment proposed in the Bill seeks to allow for the Local Government Elections to be held on or before December 1, 2011. However, notwithstanding anything in section two or in any provision of the Principal Act, the Minister may on request of a local democratic organ, or on his instructions, “authorise the holding of the election at any time for the election of a Mayor, Deputy Mayor or a Chairman or Deputy Chairman of a local democratic organ.”
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall, in his presentation, said that the fact that Local Government elections has had to be rescheduled for various reasons in the past is not in any way an indication that it is being deliberately delayed.
“We would all like to see these elections held as soon as possible, because we are all aware of the implicationS of not having these elections for almost a decade and a half,” Minister Lall said.
He pointed out that as a result of not having the elections, his Ministry has had to resort to the law in bringing civil servants to be part of the Local Government system. They have also had to create interim management committee, both at the levels of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) as well as in cases where the Town Councils are concerned.
“In recent past, we have made some progress, where the Local Government Task Force, having laboured for about eight years without accomplishing much, we’ve had to bring that process to a halt and bring the pieces of legislation to the Parliament,” he said.
These include the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, the Local Government Commissions Bill, and Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill, the Fiscal Transfers Bill, and the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill, which were identified to be amended by the Task Force before the holding of the elections.
He affirmed his commitment to having the next Local Government elections under a new and reformed electoral system.
Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, refuted a statement made by PNCR MP, Basil Williams, that Government is delaying the elections. The Minister said that the Opposition was part of a process that stymied Government’s efforts in executing the elections.
“This Administration is committed to proper governance and ensuring that the necessary mechanisms are adhered to and history would show that we (PPP/C) were the ones that reintroduced Local Government elections because we believe that we should empower our leaders at all levels of Government,” he said.
He added that the responsibility of Local Government election rests squarely in the hands of all members of Parliament and not only on Government, and urged members of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee to renew their commitment to the process in order to have the elections as early as possible. Local Government elections have been due since 1997.