Pres. Ali charges Guyanese to “participate fully” in LGE
With a date finally set for the Local Government Elections (LGE), President Irfaan Ali has called on the Guyanese people to ensure they go out and place their votes in efforts to ensure “democracy prevails”.
Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall wrote to Justice (Retd) Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) earlier Thursday, declaring March 13, 2023 as the date for holding the Local Government Elections (LGE) based on the work plan submitted by GECOM.
Head of State Irfaan Ali underscores the LGE as an essential component of ensuring democracy prevails.
“I call upon all Guyanese to work in renewing our effort at building the Governance system, building our communities, strengthening our communities, but importantly, our municipalities, our townships. For long, we’ve seen what mismanagement can do…”
LGE was last held in November, 2018.
Highlighting the importance of these elections, President Ali urges everyone involved to fully participate in the process.
“We can bring together local leadership. That includes women, young people. That shows our seriousness at building and strengthening Governance at every single level. We urge all stakeholders to participate fully in this process. We ask all political parties and stakeholders to get ready. You have long enough notice to be part of this democratic process.”
As part of the Government’s commitment, some $2.9 Billion has been allocated to GECOM for preparatory works to ensure the successful planning and execution of LGE.
LGE were statutorily due in 2021 but differed to this year.
The Opposition had issued multiple demands for a clean voters’ list ahead of LGE, alleging that the list is bloated with names of deceased persons, as well as persons who are overseas.
GECOM’S Claims and Objections Exercise commences in August 2022 and concludes in September 2022. During this exercise, anyone who wished to object to a name on the list had the opportunity to submit credible evidence that the person should not be on the list to have the name removed.
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