President calls on Granger to clarify his Party’s position

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, in a letter to the leader of the Main Opposition, Mr. David Granger, yesterday acknowledged receipt of his September 9 letter, which threatened the “mobilization of national and international support” if a date for the holding of Local Government Elections is not set on or before Monday, September 15, 2014. 

For starters, His Excellency reassured Granger that there was no need to remind him about his duties as President, nor the importance of democracy.
“Please be assured,” he said, “that there is no need to remind me about upholding the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana, and about the importance of democracy, as the track record of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration is one that has always defended, advocated and promoted constitutionality, the rule of law, and democracy at every level in our country.”
What he, however, had difficulty with, the President said, was fathoming whether both Granger and A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) are on the same page in terms of articulating exactly what it was they wanted.
In his own words, the President said, “Unfortunately, the position represented in your letter, and the positions expressed by your Party after my receipt of your letter are both ambiguous and contradictory. In the circumstances, before I can properly respond to your letter, I wish for you to clarify what precisely is your Party’s position.”
As the President had occasion to remind Granger in his missive, while his views, as leader of the Main Opposition, are important to Guyana’s democratic equation, all matters relating to the fixing of the date for elections, both local as well as national, remain within the preserve and prerogative of the Executive, a fact that Mr. Granger himself acknowledged in his own letter.
In his letter to the President, Granger called for the President to issue, the said day, the ‘Commencement Order’ to operationalise the Local Government Commission, and to initiate a process by which the Local Government (Amendment) Bill could be returned for his assent.

Said Granger in the letter, “We remind you also, that, in accordance with the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Local government is a vital aspect of democracy.
“Local government elections, last held in 1994, are a constitutional obligation and a democratic entitlement of the Guyanese people. It is not an option of the executive branch of government.”

‘Unfortunately, the position represented in your letter and the positions expressed by your Party after my receipt of your letter are both ambiguous and contradictory. In the circumstances, before I can properly respond to your letter, I wish for you to clarify what precisely is your Party’s position’ –President Donald Ramotar

He also sought to remind the President that the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill, at its second reading on February 10, 2014, was debated and passed “as amended,” directing that elections be held on or before August 1, 2014.
As such, the Opposition Leader made it known in his letter that failure to make the pronouncements on Monday, will result in the “Lawful action to mobilise national and international support in defence of local democracy, the Constitution and the rights of the Guyanese people.”
He also called on President Donald Ramotar to: “Respect the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana; to respect the decision of the National Assembly with regard to the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2014; and to respect your manifesto: Working Together for a Better Tomorrow.”
Local government elections have not been held in Guyana since 1994. Prior to that, local government elections were last held in 1970. Subsequent to 1994, the elections could not be conducted because of the coincidence with the general and regional elections of 1997. Additionally, the House passed the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which states that elections must be held on or before August 1, 2014. The August date was made via an amendment to the Bill, proposed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), while the House was in Committee. However, this bill has not been assented to by the Head of State.

(By Vanessa Narine)