ASSISTANT Secretary General of the Organisation of American Sates (OAS) Ambassador Albert Ramdin said Monday that Parliament is a transparent way for the political parties in Guyana to express their views on the issue of the reform process for local government elections.

He made the statement at a press conference in the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown, after his brief visit, during which he met with President Bharrat Jagdeo and representatives of the small Alliance for Change (AFC) political party.

“We have listened, very carefully, to those who we spoke with yesterday in terms of the local government elections. Yes, there are some concerns raised, with regard to agreements reached and implementation of them in a couple of areas,” Ramdin said.

He added: “I do not want to go too much into details on this, simply because my understanding is, from all sides, that the matter will go to Parliament for discussion and that is a very open, transparent way of making the points which were raised by all.

“So, it would be useful to follow that process very closely. In the end, I believe everybody, all the parties are looking forward to local government elections because it has been long overdue,”

Ramdin said, up to when he briefed the media at the late-afternoon news conference, he had not heard from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) but was slated to meet with representatives of that party later that evening.

“…but I believe that, here again, the Parliament is a place where all the political parties can have a view, express their views and, hopefully, come to an agreement in a consensus on how to move forward,” he offered.

However, the diplomat acknowledged it is not a matter for the OAS.

“We have not been asked to give an opinion but that is why I am very cautious in presenting our views on this matter,” he pointed out.

A task force, comprising members of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and PNCR, was established in 2001, out of the dialogue between President Jagdeo and then Opposition Leader, the late Mr. Desmond Hoyte, to solve the problems related to reforming the local government elections process.

Among the terms of reference of the body were:

* to ensure the conclusion of the constitutional reform process and give

effect to the new constitutional provisions regarding local democracy;

* to monitor and guide the drafting, passing and implementation of legislation to give greater autonomy to local government bodies, including the establishment of a local government commission and

* the formulation and implementation of objective criteria for the purpose of the allocation of resources by local democratic organs.

But the work of the body was terminated by Co-Chair, Mr. Clinton Collymore, of the PPP/C, with the passage of new legislation needed, including the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill; the Fiscal Transfers Bill 2008; the Local Government (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill, before the voting.