Georgetown: Opposition Leader David Granger says what is of grave concern for the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is that under the present law ‘extreme powers’ are given to the Local Government Minister.
The four Local Government Bills that have to be passed by the National Assembly are the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill, Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2012; Local Government Commission Bill 2012 and Fiscal Transfer Bill 2012.
Political leader of the Alliance For Change party Khemraj Ramjattan had indicated that his party is willing to go to the polls under the current system, given the protracted delay in pulling off Local Government Bills.
Despite the fact that the two parties share a parliamentary majority, Granger said there isn’t a common ground on this particular issue.
Granger stated too that at the last Parliamentary sitting which was Private Members’ Day, the Opposition members’ business had priority over Government business and they opted to amend the standing order making way for the debate and passage of the four Local Government Election Bills.
However, this proved futile as the Minister remained silent in his seat.
This delaying tactics by the Government, Granger said, does not augur well for the decentralization of power.
The Western diplomats in Guyana have been calling on the Government to make all efforts to have the amendments to the Bill debated and passed before the annual Parliamentary recess, which starts from August 10 and stretches for two months.
Guyana has not held a local Government election since 1994.
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