President Donald Ramotar intentionally put himself in a position where he could blame his not assenting to the Local Authorities (Elections Amendment) Bill on the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom), Commissioner Vincent Alexander has said.
On June 3, House Speaker Raphael Trotman received correspondence from the president informing him that the president withheld his assent from the bill “because Gecom has publicly declared that it is impractical to hold local government elections on or before August 1, 2014 as the bill mandates.”
The bill was passed on February 10, almost five months before the proposed deadline. The National Assembly then sent it to the president, before it was sent to the Chambers of the Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, who also functions as Legal Affairs Minister. There it remained until the president made up his mind late last month. Alexander believes that the
