[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Local Government Minister on Friday October 11 gave a conflicting response as to who is really responsible for calling the local government elections.
The nation is eagerly awaiting these elections and the opposition has been calling on the government to announce a date and when asked at a news conference when this announcement is likely going to be made, Ganga Persaud responded that he cannot say, since it is not within his ambit to call those elections. However, the Local Government Minister’s position was rejected by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
According to the Commission, they have a timetable indeed, which outlines a strategy once the date has been announced. GECOM’s plan requires approximately six months before the nation can vote. But this plan Gecom says does not kick in until the Local Government Minister announces a date.
Meanwhile, iNews sought the legal advice of Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall as to who exactly has the authority to set a date for the local government elections.
And according to the AG, the job of setting the date for elections rests with the executive. In the case of general elections it is with the president and with local government elections it is the subject minister, in this case Ganga Persaud.
