The issue of the holding local government elections has dominated the news in recent days. The Local Government Minister contended that the vast majority of Guyanese do not want elections and that if elections were to take place now, only 30 per cent of the voters would turn out to cast their ballots. He further contended that a lot of work was needed to prepare voters and that holding elections at this stage would be a waste of money. These are extraordinary statements coming from the Minister, as his source of information about voter attitude towards local democracy remains a mystery.
The Minister’s statements as well as those of the PPP’s General Secretary about the lack of readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) prompted Stabroek News to editorialise on the matter on two occasions. The editorial took the Minister to task for
