Fix local election dates

THERE IS TOO much uncertainty surrounding the timing of the local government elections.

We have been told the life of the 14 local government corporations – which are evenly split between the PNM and the UNC – comes to an end in December, with a period up to next March in which the elections must be held.

On Tuesday, Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke announced plans to unveil 100 candidates in coming weeks.

However, it is within the power of the Government to use its majority in Parliament to pass legislation deferring the poll.

Indeed, this is what occurred in the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 under the tenure of Patrick Manning. In 2010, local government elections resumed under Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

The need to reform the system, to draw up fresh proposals and to hold consultations has often been cited by governments as reasons to defer polls, as was the case under Mr Manning.

Others have tinkered with the system on the eve of such polls and, in the process, shifted the goalpost, as was the case with Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s 2013 reforms.

But because local government elections are seen as mid-term report cards and because it is expected that the favourability rating of any government lags over time, such delays and manoeuvres are often more reflective of political expediency than anything else.

The current government has already been asked by opposition MPs to clarify whether it intends to hold off on the elections pending legal reform. In reply, the Government has kept the issue of the timeline close to its chest.

With the PNM in the middle of its own leadership election, it is possible that officials there are more preoccupied with the question of Balisier House leadership.

If that is the case, and while it is understandable, given the close nexus between political party affairs and governance, it is nonetheless important to acknowledge the clear distinction between party matters and government affairs.

It is in the national interest for our democratic processes to be subject to certainty and regularity.

No government should ever put party affairs ahead of the national interest, which in this case calls for a definitive schedule of how the franchise is to be exercised in the coming months, if it is to be exercised at all.

Whoever leads the PNM party and its parliamentary arm must subscribe to the overriding need for local government matters to be attended to, especially at a moment when we are daily witnessing more and more stresses on local government infrastructure.

The current uncertainty underlines the fact that, as is the case with general elections, there is a need for fixed local government election dates.