President Ali declares that LGE 2023 integral to building governance, strengthening communities

The March 13, 2023, Local Government Elections (LGE) are important to building the local governance system for all of Guyana, according to President Irfaan Ali.  It was revealed that Guyanese will go to the polls in March to elect leaders for ten townships and approximately 70 Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDC).

“March 13th is therefore important date in which 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,” the president noted on Thursday evening during an interview on the sidelines of a celebration at the State House to usher in Diwali.  

He underscored, “For long, we have seen what mismanagement can do in townships, and in some municipalities, some areas.” Ali stressed that his government would spare no effort to work with every community and municipality in bringing together a team reflective of the “One Guyana’ agenda.

“A team that will promote development, a team that will work integrally with the regional governance system and a central government to ensure that our development takes place not only at a rapid and efficient pace but our development, bring people together that are in development, strengthen our communities and that better services are delivered to our communities,” he said.

The President pointed out that with the local government election, an important aspect will be the bringing together of local leadership that includes women and young people, as the administration is keen on building and strengthening governance at every single level.

Ali urged all stakeholders to fully participate in the process. “We ask all political parties and opposition to get ready.  You have long enough notice to be part of this democratic process. We believe in democracy. We believe in allowing democracy to work,” he said.

It was noted that local governance and the local government systems are essential parts of Guyana’s governance framework.

The Head of State was adamant that during the current Government’s campaign for the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, it committed to upholding the rule of law and following a democratic pathway to good governance.

Ali stressed that when the government took office in August 2020, it promised that as soon as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) signalled its readiness for hosting LGE, a date would be named.

As such, in 2021, monies were allocated in the national budget for LGE, but those elections were not held, as the government maintained that issues at GECOM needed to be addressed. Further, in 2022, a total of $783M GUY was also allocated for LGE.

It was disclosed that GECOM commenced a Claims and Objections Exercise in August to produce an Official List of Electors (OLE). Additionally, this exercise was conducted at all the GECOM permanent Registration Offices in the ten (10) Administrative Regions.

It was revealed that LGE was last held in 2018.