President calls on opposition parties to contest Local Government Elections

Last Updated on Friday, 21 October 2022, 8:27 by Denis Chabrol

President Irfaan Ali  Thursday night appealed to opposition political parties to contest the March 13, 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE) as part of the process to improve the conditions in towns and villages but already Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine has hinted that his People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) might also boycott the polls.

“We urge all stakeholders to participate fully in this process. We ask all political parties in opposition to get ready. You had long enough notice to be part of this democratic process,” he said in a late night statement.

The Alliance For Change (AFC) on Thursday said it would boycott the LGE over concerns about the voters list being bloated with the names of deceased persons and emigrants. The People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is yet say whether it would contest the LGE. Party and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton is on record as saying that the coalition could command the popular vote at LGE in its strongholds of Georgetown, Linden, New Amsterdam and Bartica.

City Mayor Ubraj Narine stopped short of saying whether APNU would contest the LGE but stressed the importance of a clean voters list.  “Civil society and all right thinking Guyanese must band together to ensure that no election is held on a bloated list dictated by the Peoples Progressive Party Government and Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission. There can be no harm in ensuring a levelled playing field is created for all actors in the electoral process. Let us be rid of this indecency,” he said.

The President said the holding of LGE was in keeping with its promise to go to the polls now that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has said that it would be ready. He said the local polls for the 10 towns and 70 neighbourhood councils would be part of a process to curb poor governance. “This is the time for us to work together. This is the time for us to come together. This is the time for us to strengthen our governance system to work towards building a system that delivers to our people,” he said.

Dr Ali promised to work with the communities,  towns and councils to put together a team that would promote development by working closely with Regional governments and Central government. “We are hoping that with these Local Government Elections we could bring together local leadership that includes women, young people that shows our seriousness at building and strengthening governance at every single level,” he said.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic administration is often accused of starving Georgetown of much-needed funds by direct subventions or regulations for the provision of much-needed services like waste collection and disposal, and the maintenance of drains and canals. However, the government has cited mismanagement as a major humbug to providing funds for routine services in Georgetown.

President Ali came in for sharp opposition criticism for stating in a meeting in Mocha-Arcadia that government would be working with the residents when he was told by the NDC Chairman that the locally elected representatives were not being informed about ministerial visits and the failure to provide subventions to opposition-backed neighbourhood councils in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).