DEPUTY Mayor Sherod Duncan has said that he is unsure if Town Clerk Royston King’s interpretation of the municipal laws governing the council is correct, with regard to his guidance on the mayoral elections on Thursday. King quoted from the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01 that Duncan and Mayor Patricia Chase-Green should remain in office until March 31, 2017, when a full year since their election would have elapsed.
But Duncan, in an invited comment, told the Guyana Chronicle that according to his understanding of the said Act, the two newly elected persons would be sworn in by the President and be able to assume office right away.
Chase-Green was re-elected to serve as mayor and her new deputy is Constituency One (Kingston/Queenstown) Councillor Lionel Hanoman-Jaikaran.
“My own confusion is, could you have a mayor who is the incumbent mayor at the same time? To me, you can’t wear both hats. You [can] have a deputy mayor and an incumbent deputy mayor; that, to me, is more doable. But how do you sort out somebody is the mayor and the incumbent mayor at the same time?
“For me personally, I thought we had a shortened municipal year ending now, hence, the elections on December 16. Being in office until March 31 is kind of a shock, which means that the President won’t be swearing in any deputy mayor, because it is not only for Georgetown; it means that the mayor who has lost office in Corriverton is the incumbent mayor until March 31. It can’t be only Georgetown; it’s the same 28:01 (of the Municipal Act). I found the Town Clerk’s interpretation a little strange and I am wondering whether he might be correct. I don’t understand it. It’s confusing,” Duncan said following the elections.
Jaikaran also told this publication that he knew nothing about this and that King’s interpretation is “totally strange” to him.
Meanwhile, King explained: “The term of office of the mayor and that of the deputy mayor shall, subject to this Act, be one year commencing on the first day of the month following upon their election, but the mayor or deputy mayor shall, notwithstanding the expiry of his term of office continue to hold office until his successor enters upon office and thereupon he shall retire.
“The persons who would be elected mayor and deputy mayor today would be mayor-elect and deputy mayor-elect because the terms of office of the incumbent mayor and deputy mayor have not expired. That term will expire on March 31, 2017 and according to the law, the time is one year and according to the interpretation of the law, one year in the law means 12 months and therefore the term of office of the two have not yet expired and therefore whoever is elected today will be mayor-elect and deputy mayor-elect.”