FAIR governance is central to a better Guyana, according to the incumbent party, which has committed to holding the long overdue local government elections by June 2016.The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) yesterday made public excerpts of its manifesto, Guyana 2.0, and in a statement said, “We are committed to holding as early as possible Local Government Elections to address all issues of local democracy, and expand the collaboration between local government bodies and community development groups.”

Guyana heads to the polls on May 11, but prior to the announcement of General and Regional Elections by President Donald Ramotar, he had committed to holding local government elections in the second quarter of 2015.
Last July, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), by means of a detailed missive issued yesterday, has made clear that it is “fully prepared and committed” to move formally into an election mode with immediacy, if and when the Commission is mandated to conduct Local Government Elections.
However, subsequent to his commitment of a date for local government elections, President Ramotar was faced by the Alliance For Change (AFC) no-confidence motion and stated that setting a date for local government elections would be foolhardy.
“I will be rightly ridiculed if faced with such a situation,” he had said last October.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had also made clear its support for the AFC’s no-confidence motion, which, if passed with majority support, would have resulted in early elections, given that the two Opposition parties controlled the majority in the National Assembly.
The Coalition, simultaneously, protested the Office of the President demanding a date for the local government polls. In his reply, by letter, to Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, President Ramotar requested that the APNU Leader be specific as to what his party wanted – local government elections or early elections, via passage of a no-confidence motion.
POLITICAL GRIDLOCK
The political gridlock considered, the Head of State moved to prorogue the Parliament and owing to failed dialogue with the political Opposition, he set a date for General and Regional Elections,

last December, which coincided with the end of the six-month prorogation, the constitutional limit.
The political opposition will head into the May 11 General and Regional Elections as an Alliance, APNU+AFC, and is the one of two primary contenders, the other being the PPP/C.
NOT SINCE 1994
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