IT is just hours before political parties, individuals and voluntary groups officially kick-start the contest for the Local Government Elections slated for June 12 this year by submitting their candidate list to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its sub-offices countrywide.

This day also signals the official season of open campaigning in communities, townships and administrative regions.

The last local government polls were held in 2018 when the APNU+AFC was in power and was defeated by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) which amassed a whopping 61 per cent of the votes leaving the APNU with 34 per cent and AFC with a mere four per cent.

After receiving a thrashing at those polls and losing the general elections, the AFC walked away from the coalition and opted out of participating in the local government polls this year, making a set of excuses. The APNU coalition or the People’s National Congress (PNC) still has not said it is going to the polls and has remained tight-lipped about its plans.

Considering how well it performed and its track record in office, the PPP/C is ready for the polls, preparing to submit its list on Monday.

One would hardly be joking when one chooses to state that these elections are both critical and timely for testing the mood of the voters and the political climate in the country. The polls will partially indicate how political parties will perform when General elections are due in 2025.

They will serve as a litmus test of GECOM’s ability to hold any election after its systems were compromised and infiltrated with rigging at every level in the 2020 elections that would have resulted in the wrong party and person being in the seat of power had it not been for the PPP/C attention to small details, the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

GECOM must ensure it adequately trains the junior, middle and senior staff for polling day and the secretariat for the upcoming LGE. It must, additionally, check all of the legal and statutory boxes to ensure that the nomination day proceedings and the events run smoothly and is transparent, credible, free and fair.

Further, it must have sweeping changes that will be visible and testimony to the fact that it is not as gullible and ignorant of things that may come up along the way.

GECOM must know that the voters’ list is an area of fierce contention and must be prepared to solve every hiccup that may arise with the list. Again, the Chairman and Commissioners must exercise the right level of oversight at all parts of the elections to protect GECOM from negative public perception.

It will be unsurprising and totally within the character trait of the Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, to hear him announce the APNU or PNC will be contesting the polls on Sunday or Monday while stating a barrage of lengthy reasons why the party must compete against the PPP/C.

Monday, you will probably hear the opposition continue their narrative about discrimination and race, as well as, its attack on the government’s management of the oil and gas sector. The PPP/C will respond to every accusation and public allegation, relying heavily on the facts and its track record, assumingly, to counter the opposition’s political diatribe.

Also, the recently reconstituted Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and the media/press will have their work cut out because there are bound to be persons and parties that will dabble in pushing narratives to support their racial hate, racism and political divisiveness.

Starting Monday, they must be firmer, prosecuting all or any of the culprits that breach the Racial Hostility Act and other laws during this time. The ERC must be allowed to function with independence to protect the Guyanese public. It must focus its attention on civil society, the so-called rights lobbying groups and non-governmental bodies apart from the politicians.

Notably, the media must be fearlessly fair, accurate and balanced in its approach to events which will unfold in the lead-up to elections. The media must not allow itself to be used by private political interests because it is the gatekeeper for the public’s interest.

Lastly, it is voters that every party and group contesting will try to dazzle or capture with either their record of service in the community or their campaigns aimed at change and reform or policies.

Every Guyanese should be listening to the various candidates with a view of choosing the best to represent their constituencies, making the best decisions on their behalf.

The public must know too that they are holding the local government officials accountable to them for the state of their villages, communities and areas, the garbage disposal, the roads and drainage and sports facilities which impact their quality of life.

They must exercise judgement carefully in the local government because it is the public’s voice and the public’s choice that matter.