ON January 15, this newspaper carried a story wherein Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green expressed the view that zeal is lacking in the Local Government Elections (LGE).

Mayor Green, in addressing this matter at the Council’s statutory meeting, said the lack of zeal is bad for democracy, and called on councillors to help generate interest in the elections. To all intents and purposes, Mayor Green’s concern is deserving of attention.

Local Government Elections are constitutionally due every three years, the last were held in 1994; we are in 2016, which means this nation has been denied six cycles of LGE. Within that time, the population has grown in terms of eligible voters, many of whom include those who had the opportunity to participate only once in LGE (1994) or not at all. From this standpoint, it is understandable why there could be an absence of zeal.

But the absence goes deeper than that. Unwavering efforts by our Western diplomatic partners, sections of civil society and political forces to have LGE over the years have played a major role in advancing democracy, though such a struggle may have caused persons to tire, having to continuously fight for everything, including basic rights. A case in point is the LGE Bills. President Donald Ramotar withheld assent to one of those bills, but that bill was re-tabled and assented to by President David Granger. It was passed by the National Assembly and sent to the President’s desk.

On the other hand, GECOM cannot escape attention. While the body is tasked with the unenviable responsibility of ensuring the integrity of elections — from registration to certification — there has been admission of some level of the masses’ lack of knowledge of the process. This newspaper, on January 7, carried a report quoting GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander as saying he believes that Guyanese need to be more informed on the functioning of the system of local government. Mr. Alexander explained that the majority of citizens would be going to the polls either uneducated or not sufficiently educated on local governance. He noted that such education should have taken place a number of years ago, so that the masses would understand the importance of local government.

Outside of those events, there are other events that may also be contributory factors. The recent vendors/City Council dispute has already become a political talking point, vying for voters’ hearts vis-à-vis the physical restoration project.

It is no secret that there is consternation in some quarters — more particularly among the youth and party workers — that their sacrifices and hard work for the 2015 elections have resulted in others who haven’t similarly invested reaping the benefits of their labour.

Persons have also made the call that LGE should see the national parties giving way to local community leaders in an effort to reignite interest and strengthen grassroots democracy. Trade unionist Lincoln Lewis, in a letter to the editor, has posited that political parties should contest independently in the towns, while at the level of the neighbourhood democratic councils, the communities should be given the opportunity to identify and elect their leaders.

WPA member Tacuma Ogunseye has expressed the view that political parties should not contest local elections.

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee has said the party would be contesting elections on a 50/50 split (i.e. party and non-party members). President David Granger has said the APNU+AFC will be contesting as a single unit in every area, and that this decision is reflective of the will of the people who voted for the group in 2015.

This society is yet to reach the stage where public opinion can be known through scientific methods that would allow for accurately gauging the zeal or apathy of the electoral. This notwithstanding, Mayor Green’s attention to this matter serves as a wake-up call. From now until E-Day, it is up in the air for interesting contenders and their allies to work towards the involvement of the citizens.

What this newspaper knows is that local government is important to the people and the nation’s development. Every struggle that brought the nation this far, where LGE will be held in March, was worth it. As such, we urge every eligible citizen to vote. That LGE also allows for the participation of individual, non-traditional political party or group is encouraging, since it diversifies the landscape and creates wider choice from amongst persons offering themselves for leadership, which augurs well for democracy.