The PPP/C and PNCR are at odds over the electoral system to be used at the forthcoming local government and subsequent elections.
On Thursday at a Freedom House press conference, PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar accused the PNCR of being intent on putting all kinds of obstacles in the way of local government elections being held this year.
Ramotar told reporters that the elections are long overdue and "are needed to renew grass roots democracy and allow people to have greater self-government". But he said the PNCR was holding up the process as it was refusing to have the elections held under the electoral system used at the 2001 general elections. He said the party was also refusing to accept the Guyana Elections Commission database, despite several verifications of its integrity.
He declared that the electoral system used at the 2001 general elections was `constitutionalised' and that it had overtaken any agreement that it was to be used only for the 2001 elections and that another system would be devised for subsequent general elections.
In response, Vincent Alexander, the PNCR chairman and lead spokesperson on local government issues, rejected Ramotar's charges. He told Stabroek News that since there is no system in place the elections cannot be delayed. He described the electoral system used at the 2001 general elections as irrelevant to the local government system.
Vincent Alexander
Alexander said Ramotar's assertion about a `constitutionalised' system was inaccurate. He said the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) of which he was a member, agreed that following the 2001 elections the committee on parliamentary reform would review the system.
Alexander also accused the PPP/C of taking more than 18 months to respond to the PNCR's proposals on the electoral system, which it had tabled for the consideration of the task force.
In relation to the electoral system to be used at the next and subsequent local government elections, the task force was entrusted with recommending a system in line with the recommendations of the CRC.
The CRC recommended: "The Constitution should provide for the electoral system at the levels of local government below the regions to be built upon pillars of representativeness, proportionality and accountability to the electorate." It also recommended: "The Constitution should provide for the electoral systems, at the levels of local government below the regions, to provide for the involvement of individuals and voluntary groups in addition to political parties."
The task force is also to recommend the terms of reference of an independent constitutional local government commission and an appropriate system for the allocation of financial resources to local government bodies. It has been assisted in its tasks by a number of local government experts whose services the local office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) made available. The NDI has also facilitated the recruitment of a legal draftsman to put the task force's recommendations in legislative form.