THE Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman, Mr. Nigel Hughes, recently opined that political parties have no business being part of Local Government Elections. Except for a few comments, there has not been a vigorous debate on this subject. This is most surprising, given that we are on the last lap of a campaign for LGE. Is this a sign of disagreement with Mr. Hughes’s position, or is there not much appetite for such a debate?It should be noted that Mr. Hughes’s party, the AFC, which is contesting the upcoming elections as part of the APNU/AFC coalition, was quick to point out that its members are free to contest the elections, presumably either as part of the Coalition or as independent individuals. We know of at least one AFC member who is doing the latter.

The question of the parties’ participation in the LGE is a complex one. Mr. Hughes is correct in pointing out that local governance would be enhanced if partisan considerations and influence are removed from the process. Theoretically, it would mean that citizens in their localities would be able to engage in matters of interest to the communities without the rancour that accompanies party politics.

Indeed, in an ideal situation, the issue of local governance ought to be above party politics; but that’s precisely the point — Guyana’s political environment is far from ideal. Our party-grounded political culture leaves little space for compromise and objectivity when it comes to the allocation of authority and power at all levels.

The ethnic divide compounds the problem. It would be very difficult to get parties to stay out of the process. In 1994, the PNC did not formally participate in the LGE at the level of the Neighbourhood Development Councils; but this was not reciprocated by the other major party. In any case, many of the so-called independent groups were closely associated with, if not affiliated to, the PNC.

The problem, if there is one, has to do with our political culture. We have never developed a robust independent culture whereby citizens balance their partisan affiliations with their civic obligations; the two are generally fused. In an environment of ethnic competition and zero-sum politics, partisan considerations are compelling. The party is seen as omnipotent — a defence against domination by the other.

Even if we are swayed in the direction that Mr. Hughes advocates, it would really be a substitution of party influence for party participation. In other words, even if parties agree or are mandated not to participate in the LGE, they would still heavily influence who contest in the communities they control politically. Whether that would make a difference to the quality of local governance is debatable.

In the circumstances, it would have been ideal if there were a mixed-system that allowed the parties to contest a fraction of the seats up for grabs. The new system already allows for a combination of constituency representation and proportional representation. Perhaps in future elections parties could be persuaded to contest the PR seats only; thus leaving the constituency contests to independent groups and individuals.

We feel that, in the short term, that would be a fair and reasonable compromise.