The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently preparing a timetable that will indicate how soon the Commission will be ready to hold Local Government Elections.
The timetable is being crafted despite the absence of a consensus position from political parties on whether a new voters' list will be compiled from a full house-to-house registration and without the methodology which will be used for the holding of those elections.
Acting Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Calvin Benn, at a media conference on Friday, refrained from stating how soon after a decision had been brokered the Commission will be ready to hold the much needed elections.
“I could not give you that time, but the secretariat is putting together a time table of all the options,” Benn stated.
GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, indicated that the Commission has taken note of the call from the PNCR for a new voters' list emerging from a full house-to-house registration for Local Government Elections.
He added that the Commission is also aware of the recommendations of the Local and Foreign Observer Groups for the conduct of such an exercise, and have requested funding in the 2007 budget estimates.
“Whether we get the requested funds is totally out of our hands. The question that emerges is whether we should embark on preparation for the Local Government Elections before establishing a new voters' list,” Surujbally stated.
He added that GECOM, both the Commission and technical staff, are tending towards the preference of embarking on a house-to-house registration which would include the registration of eligible 14-year-olds.
Dr. Surujbally added that once this is done, there would be no great impediments to commencing Local Government Elections in 2008.
The GECOM Chairman noted that while efforts are afoot to have Local Government Elections this year, he has reason to believe that the Consolidated Fund cannot withstand the holding of the elections and a full house-to-house registration in the same year.
According to Surujbally, GECOM is not part of the Joint Task Force on Local Government Reform.
Members from the PPP/C and the PNCR, who comprise the Joint Task Force, have disagreed on a ratio of Proportional Representation (PR) to Constituency elements in an electoral system for the Municipalities and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).
The PNCR had proposed that the new electoral system consists of a constituency aspect of not less than 50 per cent, while the PPP/C had proposed an electoral system of 70 per cent and 30 per cent constituency.
The two sides have also reached a deadlock on a system of fiscal transfers from Central Government to the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).
PPP/C General Secretary Donald Ramotar had stated that the PPP/C and the PNCR were closing the gap in the differences and said that the PPP/C has proposed a new 50 per cent ratio, which the PNCR would have accepted.
Dr. Surujbally stated that the Secretariat had studied the six options prepared by a consultant relating to the methodology associated with the holding of elections.
He added that the Secretariat had studied the six options and had developed a paper outlining the pros and cons for each option.
According to Dr. Surujbally, the paper was subsequently shared with the political parties as a help in the deliberations of the Joint Task Force.
On this note, he urged that the other Parliamentary political parties be included in the ongoing negotiations so that a broader consensus position could be reached.
He stated that the Commission has budgeted for the holding of Local Government Elections in 2007 using the existing format.
Dr. Surujbally added that there might be a requirement to revise the entire plan, if a new format for Local Government Elections is agreed to.
“If this were to occur, we are confident that with adequate resources, we would be able to administer Local Government elections in a similarly satisfactory manner as we did the 2006 General and Regional Elections,” Dr. Surujbally indicated.
On December 21, Parliament passed the Local Authorities Elections Amendment Bill 2006, which provided for the postponement of elections of councilors of local democratic organs in 2006.
The Bill extended the date for the holding of the next Local Government Elections to December 1, 2007.
Those elections were last held in 1994, and several issues have been blamed for subsequent postponements.