-Trotman

The Alliance For Change yesterday said that it would participate in upcoming local government elections only if the legislative reforms mandated by the Local Government Task Force and agreed on by all parties and the international community are put in place.

“We have stated that these elections are about the people of Guyana taking control of the management of their communities without direction from central government,” said AFC leader Raphael Trotman yesterday, following an emergency meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee. He added, “There can be no solution without devolution.”

According to Trotman, the party is gravely concerned over rumours regarding the date that local government elections will be held as well as the failure by the Guy-   ana Elections Commission (GECOM) to clarify the situation. Recently, GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally said GECOM has been proceeding according to its work plan. He noted that “…if everything goes right, I daresay the [Local Government] Minister in his wisdom would decide on a date some time in early or mid-April, but that is not my decision to make.”

Trotman recalled that the party had expressed concern last month about what it dubbed GECOM’s failure to prepare the people to exercise their constitutional and democratic rights to vote, and elect leaders of their choice under the new electoral system, while ensuring the fullest participation. Addi-tionally, the party had noted that the full raft of the long awaited reforms had yet to be implemented calling into question the success of any local government elections held without them.

He said the situation remains unchanged and at yesterday’s emergency meeting the party said its participation in the polls would be tied to the reforms. In this regard, Trotman said the party “strongly believes” that the legislative requirements can be put in place by July 31, 2010. He added that the    AFC “will participate when these requirements are in place” while in the interim its activists would continue to work in the field in preparation for the elections.  “We demand a reformed election not a deformed election. If the legislative reforms are in place tomorrow, the AFC will be ready to participate,” he added.

“The AFC continues to be distressed by the numerous persons who are reporting daily that they do not understand the new electoral system,” Trotman also noted. Saying that it has not been explained sufficiently to encourage full citizen participation, he pointed out that the process of accurate and independent voter education cannot be the responsibility of the political parties. “[It] must be the responsibility of the Guyana Elections Commission,” he said, adding that the party recognises that the success of the polls “depends on the full informed participation” of the citizenry.

Meanwhile, Trotman also noted that leaders of the PPP and the PNCR have met in private to discuss the “national” issue, while excluding other important stakeholders of the country. He was referring to a meeting last week between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition leader Robert Corbin, where local government was discussed. Corbin confirmed that there had been an engagement with President Jagdeo early last week where the issue of local government reform had been discussed. However, he was uncomfortable describing the engagement as a “meeting,” and said that more details of the encounter will be disclosed shortly after the PNCR completes its consultations with various parties and bodies concerning local government reform.

The local government elections, constitutionally due before the end of the year, would be the first to use the new mixed system of proportional representation and first past the post, providing for the involvement and representation of individuals and voluntary groups in addition to political parties.

Last month, noting the criticism that GECOM has faced over its public education activities, Surujbally reiterated that the new system is a “very complex and complicated” business. “It is the first time that we are using this system and we had to get it right,” he said, adding that the commission has been working according to its plan. He also stressed that GECOM took the deliberate decision not to clutter the minds of electors, noting that it waited until the wrapping up of Claims and Objections to phase in its information campaign about the new system. However, in this regard, Surujbally also noted that GECOM is walking a fine line, since if too much information is given it would be accused of too much verbiage, while if it extracts and extrapolates certain areas, it would be accused of being too superficial. He has implored the political parties to have confidence and trust in the people most knowledgeable about the new system, and he urged that they seek their counsel if they encounter any difficulties.