PNCR leader Robert Corbin says completing local government reform is an absolute prerequisite for the holding of the long-delayed polls.
Corbin yesterday accused the government of pushing the process forward in bad faith and ignoring the reforms and calls for a new voter registration exercise.
"It should be obvious that the elections cannot be held unless and until the recommendations of the Task Force set up for this purpose are fully implemented," he said at a news conference hosted by the party yesterday. "Any attempt to hold the elections without the implementation of these reforms would therefore make nonsense of all of those years for which the nation has tolerated postponement of the elections in the name of the reform process."
Corbin noted that the polls have been deferred for nine consecutive years, mainly because stakeholders appreciated the need to complete local government reform in accordance with the mandate of the revised Guyana Constitution. He explained that the PPP/C-PNCR reform Task Force had prepared a draft report, and several recommendations await legislative action.
But recommendations on an appropriate electoral system for the polls and an appropriate system for making annual fiscal allocations to local government bodies remain incomplete.
Corbin yesterday confirmed that there has been some "general agreement" on the electoral system, with a 50-50 constituency-proportional representation split. Stabroek News reported last week that the Attorney General's Chambers has been directed by the Task Force to draft amendments for a new electoral system for the local government polls. But Corbin said there are many details still to be settled. "The Government has however begun to behave as though the details are unimportant and has been reluctant to re-establish the Task Force which also has as its mandate the supervision of the draft legislation," he pointed out, while accusing former co-chairperson Clinton Collymore of unilaterally sending an uncompleted report for the preparation of the draft legislation.
He said that for the reform process to be completed satisfactorily there is urgent need for the re-establishment of the Task Force to complete its terms of reference - a matter already raised with the administration. He added that many in the government have voiced their full agreement and support of the recommendations and for this reason he found it difficult to appreciate why the impression is being conveyed by President Bharrat Jagdeo that elections can proceed without the reforms implemented. "Why would the President want to have elections without the reform when it is clear that the old system was not working and cannot work?" he asked. "For any elections to be meaningful the new councils and councillors must have an environment that the reforms will provide."
Corbin also took issue with the government's decision against funding a new national house-to-house voter registration exercise.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has unanimously agreed that a new house-to-house registration must be carried out and that it has already received a report from the Chief Election Officer on the implementation of the project. The decision corresponds with the recommendations of the major observer groups in their reports on the 2006 general elections.
Last week President Jagdeo explained that no money has been budgeted this year for the project, estimated to cost in excess of $1 billion. He explained that the government spent around US$25 million on election-related activities in the two to three years leading up to last year's polls.
And he said too that the running off of local government elections for municipalities and neighbourhoods would cost around $500 million. The President mentioned that the 2006 list was held to be good enough for last year's general elections and if the parties are interested they could use it for local government polls.
Corbin said the PNCR believed that the issue had been put to rest once GECOM made the decision, and argued that the President's suggestion that the polls could be held without the registration is an attempt to interfere with the commission's work. He accused the President of seeking to use executive power to hinder GECOM's endeavours by indicating that there is no budgetary provision. "We heard no complaint of shortage of money for any matter related to World Cup Cricket, including the doling out of money from the public purse to build hotels, without the prior knowledge and consent of the Parliament," he added, while insisting that GECOM must be allowed to do its work.
Corbin said it is significant that the EAB, the Carter Center, the OAS and the Commonwealth teams have all agreed that house-to-house registration is now absolutely essential.
He said the nation ought to be alerted to what he sees as veiled threats by President Jagdeo and be prepared to resist any assault on the functioning of the elections commission.