Gov’t hasn’t considered separate city elections

Vincent Alexander

-could be dry-run for countrywide local polls, says Gecom commissioner

The Donald Ramotar administration has not considered calling separate elections for Georgetown, which Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) commissioner Vincent Alexander says could be used as a dry-run for the holding of polls in the remaining local authorities.

During a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday, Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon said Cabinet has not given thought to the possibility of isolated elections for Georgetown.

Government has maintained over the last few months that Gecom is not ready for local government elections, and that a lot more public education has to be carried out before the order is given for the elections to be held.

In a letter published in Wednesday’s edition of Stabroek News, Alexander, who is an opposition-nominated member of Gecom, noted that the PPP/C once again called for the installation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) in Georgetown and in the same breath contended that an election is not a solution to the problem. He conceded that that this position may be true but questioned what makes the imposition of an IMC superior to “constitutionally due” elections. “What makes the view of the Government on who should administer the