WITH the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) running candidates in all 610 constituencies across the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAA) for the June 12 Local Government Elections, Executive Member of the ruling PPP/C, Anil Nandlall, is confident that they will emerge victorious.
In a live broadcast on Friday, Nandlall expressed confidence in his party, highlighting that the main political opposition, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is only contesting in 279, or 45 per cent, of the 610 constituencies and 24 LAA.
“What it means electorally is that the PPP, which is the political party contesting all the local authority areas, and every single seat in these local authority areas, will get a walkover victory. And the PPP would be in control of all these LAAs,” Nandlall said.
Currently serving at the country’s Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Nandlall emphasised that the PPP/C will have a chance for the first time to control the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, which has been under the PNC for the last 60 years.
“Almost every year, the central government has had to bail out the city council. They are the largest revenue collection local authority in the country, and perhaps they do the least when one looks at the revenue that they receive and what they have been able to accomplish; they have been an abject failure.
“So, it is not a bad thing that they [APNU] will not have a presence in these local authority areas that they are not contesting. The country’s experience with them has been that they are more obstructionist than constructive in their engagement,” Nandlall said.
He added that under the opposition, the Georgetown City Council has been obstructing development, rather than working along with the PPP/C government.
“On the other hand, unfortunately, you will have supporters of theirs – a dwindling number – who will be without representation. Because whether we want to accept it or not, not everybody will vote for the People’s Progressive Party, there will always be a certain section of the population who will not vote for the party, and that is their democratic right.
“However, when they don’t have elected representatives, they may not have their views effectively represented. But then again, when you have representatives, like the ones that they have, it is better if you don’t have any because as I said, their track record is one that shows that they are obstructionist in their engagements,” he said.
Nandlall pointed out that the opposition’s “obstructionist” behaviour could be seen in December 2021 when APNU+AFC Parliamentarian Annette Ferguson attempted to remove the Speaker’s Mace but was unsuccessful.
“What constructive contribution do they make in the Parliament? Any person who looks at the parliamentary proceedings can see when they are not there, the business flows smoothly. When they are there, we would like them, I personally and we as a government have repeatedly called upon them to make constructive engagements, make constructive criticisms, and present constructive alternatives- they do no such thing.”
Local Government Elections is set for June 12, 2023; it was last held in 2018.
