Key bill for local gov’t elections passed

Georgetown: After six hours of debate and consideration of the local government bill, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan successfully piloted the bill in the National Assembly to pave the way for the long-delayed polls. He, however, did not name a date saying this would have to be done in consultation with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Minister Bulkan nevertheless informed the House that as the government awaits the date from GECOM; it has heard the cries of the people, has felt their pain and remains resolute in ensuring their right to constitutional democracy.
The Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2015 seeks to amend 22 sections and insert a new section in the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, clearing the way for the holding of the long-overdue elections. The approved bill also widens the definition for Election Officer to include Deputy Chief Election Officer, Assistant Chief Election Officer and Deputy Returning Officer.
In addition, it widens the definition of identification card to include a card issued during the continuous registration process and inserts a definition of by-election. The bill deems vagrants as not ordinarily residents anywhere and provides for the Preliminary List of Voters to be extracted from the National Register of Registrants and not from the 1992 Official List of Electors.
The amended legislation also removes bankruptcy as a qualification for election as a councillor or for continuation in the office of a councillor, provides for the transmission of sealed envelopes containing cast ballots to the respective returning officers for each local authority area as well as gives the polling agents the power to verify ballots and the recounting of votes cast in each local authority area by the Presiding Officer.
An amendment tabled by the Opposition was agreed upon by the Government to have the results of the elections be declared no later than 5 days. Minister Bulkan told the House that the Government is ready for the elections and there will be no delay in holding it.
“We do not believe that the people will be kind to us if we agree to any further unreasonable delay in the holding of these elections and to deny the people their right to participate in Local Government Elections and to enjoy local democracy,” he said passionately.
The minimal days for application of approval of symbols for candidates contesting the elections have changed from 21 days to 71 days. There are two components that are responsible for this, Minister Bulkan explained.
“First is the fact that 21 days are now required between the application for the approval of symbols to be used by a candidate and for a determination to be made by GECOM and the second component has to do with the submission of lists or the nomination of lists where the period is increased from the current 21 days to 50 days. It is this 50 and 21 days that now increase the period for the application of symbols to 71 days.”
He informed that the period was increased from 21 to 71 days to provide for more time for the 71 local authority areas which have been sub-divided into some 585 geographic constituencies to adequate manage the elections process. Persons desirous of contesting in any of the 585 constituency will be required to get 15 electors within the area they are contesting to support their candidacy, and 20 such registered voters in the case of a municipality.
This allows for not only politicians, but civic groups to vie for the position of councillors within a particular constituency. By virtue of this, it increases the number of lists from the constituencies and the burden on Gecom to scrutinise all of these lists as well as the logistical arrangement to the management of the elections.