President Donald Ramotar said that while the government is fully committed to holding Local Government Elections, it will not be subject to bullyism on the part of the opposition.
During an interview today, the President reiterated government’s commitment to the holding of local government elections. However, he categorically stated that the administration will not be bullied by the parliamentary opposition in this regard.
During the parliament sitting on Thursday last, opposition party, a Partnership for National Unity [APNU] moved a motion to change the sequence of Bills on the order paper, bringing forward the debate on the four local government bills.
This motion was strongly objected to by government parliamentarians, who accused APNU of trying to bully the parliamentary process.
In response to this, President Ramotar stated that government was the one who placed the Bills for debate on the order paper. According to the President, the government and the opposition can still reach a compromise on these Bills, since it is not tied to the Amaila Falls Project.
The President explained that since the 2011 general elections, the composition of the National Assembly has changed significantly and as such, many agreements which were reached on the Bills prior to the elections is now being changed, thus the delay.
The last local government elections was held in1994.
