Motion to have municipal elections in October this year defeated

Motion to have municipal elections in October this year defeated

Minister for Employment Parveen Bala in parliament

The motion to get Parliament to uphold the Local Government Act and approve the facilitation of the municipal elections by October 2019 so as to provide legitimate and fair representation to the rate payers and citizens of municipalities was defeated in Parliament.

27 MPs voted against the motion, 21 voted in favour while 3 did not vote.

While speaking on the motion, Minister for Employment Parveen Bala highlighted that when municipal council elections would be held, political leaders would attempt to interfere.

Bala questioned the opposition what democracy is this.

Bala says he never took an oath to become mayor as there was no political pressure on him

Bala was the mayor of Ba for more than a decade and also served as the Special Administrator of Lautoka.

Opposition Leader Sitiveni Rabuka while making a contribution to the motion said that this is the right time to hold the municipal elections.

He says if they look at the political landscape and the support they receive from the urban areas, now is the right time to hold municipal elections before the tide changes.

SODELPA MP Lynda Tabuya highlighted that Minister for Local Government Premila Kumar had previously advocated for municipal elections.

NFP MP Lenora Qereqeretabua while moving the motion, also claimed that they can foresee appointments made based on nepotism.

Minister for Local Government, Premila Kumar says it is clear that years and years of corruption and mismanagement had led to loss of confidence in the elected counsel and it was a reason why the change was made.

She says in when the municipal elections were held in 2002 only 37 percent of the town and city dwellers voted and in 2005 it reduced to 31 percent.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the municipal council is not the end objective.

He says the objective is to make sure they have a council that manage the matters in the right way.