Our election date should be fixed

THE EDITOR: In a matter of days voters in the United States of America will elect a new president. As a result of the consistency of the American system, years before many voters knew the exact dates of the election and the inauguration ceremony (November 2, 2004 and January 20, 2005 respectively). The predictability and consistency of the American system are fundamental to a developed country. There are no surprises. In the Caribbean, on the other hand, inconsistency and unpredictability of elections are the order of the day. Mr Manning even though he has until 2007 before the next election is due, can announce in Parliament tomorrow that a snap election would be called in 2005; thereby catching the entire electorate unprepared.

Mr Manning and his cohorts would see no problem in calling an early poll. The ability to call an early poll may be looked upon as a preemptive strike or a master move to win five more years. We are still trying to do things in this five-year period. This has been the culture of governance in this country. Even though the Constitution says that you can call a snap election, it is an option we should never avail ourselves. If we say that we want to be a developed nation by 2020 we need to have some consistency and predictability of our national elections.

Our next General Election should be in the first week of December 2007 when it is constitutionally due. The succeeding elections should be 2012, 2017 and 2022. At no time should a Prime Minister feel to call an election at his whim and fancy. In addition, we ought to have an agreed time frame for the inauguration or installation of the Prime Minister, perhaps the day before Christmas. The present scenario is the Prime Minister-elect is hurriedly installed the day after the results are in his favour. There is no planning, just ad hocracy. We cannot talk about developed status by 2020 unless we remove that anomaly from our Constitution or the incumbent must ensure that he gets a full five-year term without calling an early poll.

ORIO NGUMA
Fyzabad