Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall has invited local government organs to apply for approval to hold elections for mayors, deputy mayors, council chairs and deputies in the first test of a controversial new law.
Last Monday, the National Assembly voted to postpone the holding of local government elections, although the government used its majority to insert an amendment into the law to clear the way for the holding of mayoral polls, subject to an order by the minister.
A public notice in the national newspapers said “the Minister solicits from each local government organ: City Council, Town Council and Neighbourhood Democratic Council, a resolution of the relevant Council, seeking as that Council may desire, the approval of the Minister to proceed and hold internal elections for the positions of Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of that Council.”
Under the new law, the minister, on request of a local democratic organ or on his own, may authorise the holding of an election for any of the posts.
During the debate on the amendment, members of the parliamentary opposition rejected it as a move to give “ministerial dictatorship to the local government minister over the City Council.” They questioned its late addition to bill to postpone the polls.
Lall called it a critical piece of legislation, saying that it empowers the local democratic organs to hold the elections for mayor and other positions after many years. He dismissed notions that the amendment was sinister, declaring that he is merely seeking to have the mayoral election held in keeping with the City Council Act.
Attempts by opposition leader Robert Corbin to get the amendment redrafted were unsuccessful.
Since Mr Corbin has been rebuffed, let us see if these local government organs will comply with this dictatorial order.
local government bodies would have been able to diseminate help to our flooded communities faster and more efficiently than us waiting on a minister to show up everywhere at once.
I have never seen such stupidness! The Central Government, using its parliamentary majority, empowered the Local Government Minister to invite organs to apply for holding elections, but the same government could not empower the same minister to stage nationwide Local Government elections that were last held in 1994.
It would seem to me that the local democratic organs being invited to stage individual local elections are going to do so using the same old rules and system that were employed before 1994, so what exactly did the government do here that it couldn’t have done for the past 14 years?
For a long time now we have been hearing that LG elections can’t be held until the PPP and PNC agree on LG reforms, but there have been no reforms and yet the government is going ahead with select elections? This is absolute trickery and in keeping with the dictatorial deigns of the PPP!
Time to get rid of Green and Robert two lame duck…
agreed, includ the govt on the lame duck issue
tiger…its a new year…not so much hate bro….admit dat yuh pnc done dead buried and rotted to hell and it ent comin back…or yuh hopin dat the big powers reseruct dem and put dem back in powa??? give it a break now and just relax and teck it ease and get through de winta….
This election will give political direction who to vote for as Mayors/Deputy Mayors/Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen in the respective councils.
The PPP/C have always given mandate to their elected councillors who should be the head of the councils,so the election is a farce.
fuss man gone in any election is monument Hammy G…..
Hamilton Greene should be home relaxing, this man is incompetent. This fellow just can’t function without being in the public limelight and that all hes in it for. the city needs young vibrant leadership. Hammie you and Corbin have out lived your usefulness.
While Local Government election is long overdue and the Oppositions must take its share of blame for it, the new proposal that the Minister can authorised election for Mayors, Chairmen would still not correct the problems residents are having with their councils.
Some of these councils are at the position they were in before the 1994 Local Government election ie with only a few councillors.Many councillors have for one reason or another left the council.
So if the Honourable Minister call for election in most cases the same persons wil be elected as Mayor or Chairman.
What is needed is LOcal Government Election.
Vasimul Khan
Elections, in these local govermnent bodies are long overdue, in helping to fix the myriaid of problems in the local communities, as a result of the mismanagement, corruption, political patronage, cronyism, lack of transparency and accountability, and the retrogressive policies of the PPP and PNC.
The PNC have a very dark history in respect to elections and democratic governance; sadly, its pronouncements on this subject (elections)lacks public credibility.
Hopefully, these elections will be conducted freely and fairly and, will help to bring about the change and development which the local communities need.