–with tabling of Local Authorities Amendment Bill

THE Local Authorities (Elections) Amendment Bill, No. 9 of 2018 was on Thursday read for the first time in the National Assembly.

The Bill seeks to amend the Municipal and District Councils Act, Local Government Act, Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Local Democratic Organs Act, Local Authorities (Elections) Amendment) Act 1990 and Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2000 in relation to local authorities’ elections.

According to the explanatory memorandum of the Bill, Clause 2(a) and (b) of the legislation amends the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap. 28:01, to harmonise the terms of office of mayors and deputy mayors with that of the chairmen and deputy chairmen of NDCs, as specified in the Local Government Act, Cap 28:02.

Clauses 2(c), 3 and 5 of the Bill amend the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap. 28:01, the Local Government Act, Cap. 28:02, and the Local Democratic Organs Act, Cap. 28:09, to provide for utilisation of the number of votes garnered by the councillors elected on the basis of Proportional Representation lists at the elections at which they were elected to resolve ties in the election of mayors, chairmen and deputy chairmen.

The final option provided for under Clauses 2(c), 3 and 5 is similar to the procedure under Article 177(3) of the constitution relating to the drawing of lots to resolve the difficulty from a tie.

Clause 2 (d), (e) and (f) amend Sections 24, 33 and 41 of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap. 28:01, to harmonise the terms of office for councillors of cities and towns with those of councillors of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).

Meanwhile, Clause 4(a) amends Section 35(1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Cap. 28:03 to harmonise the period for election of councillors of NDCs with that for councillors of cities and towns provided for under Section 7(1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act 1990 (as now amended in Clause 6).

Clause 4(b) of the Bill amends Section 94D of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Cap. 28:03 to provide for a procedure to resolve ties among constituency candidates which result from an election.

Clause 6 amends Section 7(1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act 1990, for clarity, and to harmonise the period for election of councillors of cities and towns provided for under Section 7(1) with that for NDCs provided for under Section 35 (as now amended in clause 4(a)).

Clause 7 amends Section 7(1) of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2000 to facilitate the effective implementation of continuous registration, and the availability of an electoral list, which shall always be in force, and which shall be routinely updated every six months.