NO POLITICAL COMFORT

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 26th March 2016, 9:00 pm

The results of the local government elections should give no political comfort to our political parties. The PPP won 48 out of 71 NDC elections, similar to 1994 when it won 48 out of 65 and 28,000 more votes than the APNU+AFC. The APNU+AFC won 5 municipalities, the PPP 3 and 1 is a tie. The turnout at the local government elections was low, at least lower than the national elections, as occurs almost everywhere, and it is therefore unsafe to make any enduring political conclusions from the results. But some glaring issues have emerged.

In the 1994 local government elections for the Georgetown municipality the PPP/Civic won 8 of the 30 seats. The GGG (Good and Green Guyana) won 12 and the PNC 10, a total of 22. In these elections the PPP won only 2 seats. There was a suggestion that the result was a consequence of the PPP/C Government’s abandonment of the City. While this may have played a role, these types of failures have only a marginal impact on our rigid ethnic voting patterns. The PNC’s 40 percent of the vote at the 1992 elections when every political indicator suggested that it should have been wiped out proves the point.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 19th March 2016, 9:00 pm

Once upon a time, during the colonial era, Guyana had a local government system that functioned. It emerged from the establishment of village democracy in estates purchased by freed slaves. It did not cover all of Guyana and its functions were limited. But legislation throughout the 20th century improved and expanded the local government and municipal systems. These became so well organized that there was a national body called the Guyana Association of Local Authorities, which had great influence in the early years of our modern political development.

Many might be tempted to attribute the destruction of Guyana’s local government system since 1970, or thereabouts, by the failure to hold no more than two elections since then, as a conspiracy between the main political parties. But it was not. Local governance was a victim of the perpetual struggle for dominance between the two main political parties. For both parties, but for different reasons and in different ways, local democracy became a humbug, and got in the way of the exercise of political dominance, so that after one try each, they discarded local government elections altogether.

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CAMP STREET WAS A TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 12th March 2016, 9:00 pm

There are approximately 2,000 prisoners in the five facilities in Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Mazaruni, Lusignan and Timehri. Of these 35 percent is on remand awaiting trial. The Georgetown Prison at Camp Street was designed to accommodate 600 prisoners but holds nearly 1,000. Violent incidents or escapes have occurred in Georgetown, New Amsterdam and Mazaruni in the past. There was always a great fear among those responsible for security that Camp Street could explode at any time. The problem of overcrowding was well known.

The recent studies and reports are as follows: Continue reading “CAMP STREET WAS A TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN”

TACKLING CORRUPTION IN GUYANA

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 5th March 2016, 9:00 pm

There are four major issues relating directly and indirectly to corruption facing Guyana at the present time. These are the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, the reform of the Integrity Commission, the utilization of the Freedom of Information Act and the passage of Corruption legislation.

The Public Procurement Commission was recommended by the Constitution Reform Commission in 2000 and passed into law by amendment to the Constitution in 2002. Its composition and functions are set out in the Constitution but its essential role is as a body acceptable by both political parties to oversee public procurement. One would have thought that the then Opposition would have aggressively pursued its establishment. But obstacles rooted in a political culture of non-cooperation which has generated a permanent political strategy to eke out a disagreement out of every potential agreement, has prevented any progress. The issue of the Public Procurement Commission was a major one for Opposition parties between 2011 and 2015. Its rapid establishment would be a major step in the fight against corruption and the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) ought to make it a priority.

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CONSTITUTIONAL CONUNDRUMS

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 27th February 2016, 9:00 pm

Among the events after elections are: (1) After the vote count, the results declared by the Chief Election Officer. (2) The electoral quota is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast by the total number of MPs. (3) The votes obtained by each list is then divided by the electoral quota which allocates the number of seats to each list. (4) The list representative extracts from the list and submits to the Chief Election Officer the names of those persons to become elected members.  (5) The Chief Election Officer declares those names to be the names of candidates on such list who have been elected.

The Chief Justice (ag) said, in the recently decided case of Morian v The Attorney General and the Speaker of the National Assembly, that all candidates become elected members of the National Assembly before the allocated of seats among the successful lists, that is, before stage 3. He said: “It is further clear that members of such successful lists are constitutionally recognized as ‘elected members’ even before the stage of allocation between those successful lists is reached – let alone before extraction (or selection) is made by the representatives of such lists after such allocation of seats between or among the successful lists.”

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The Conversation Tree is both physical and philosophical. The physical is the tree itself, which has given its name to the road from which it originates at the intersection of the Rupert Craig Highway. It was reputedly first planted by Napleton William King in 1876 to celebrate the birth of his son Napleton Walter. As...
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