Two bills approved to postpone Local Government elections

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the two bills to postpone the Local Government Elections. They are the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation General Election (Postponement) Act and the Parish Councils General Election (Postponement) Act.

The new provision stipulates that the elections must be held no later than December 29, 2016.

Local Government Minister Noel Arscott, seeking to justify the postponement, told the House that the three “strategic laws” – deemed priorities of the local government reform process, “are at an advanced stage of development.”

All three bills will be tabled before the end of the current parliamentary year, he promised, adding that when they are passed, they will “significantly impact the operation of the local authorities.”

It was the intention of the government, he said, to have those changes enacted ahead of the holding of the next local government elections.

Opposition

Desmond McKenzie, Opposition Spokesman on Local Government, was not impressed by the explanation given by Mr. Arcott. He accused the government of being afraid to face the electorate at this time, hence the pretext of a law reform process to justify the postponement.

"The Minister of Local Government has just engaged the Parliament and country into what can be described as an act of cowardness (sic) on the part of the government," he said.