Councillor happy with people voting president

 By MOUA OMOA

LOCAL level governments in Central are fully behind the government decision to have the people vote for presidents.

Speaking during the recent provincial assembly, Koiari LLG president David Ogi said the provincial executive council had given its support to the Cabinet decision.

“I believe presidents should be voted by the people because there is no stability with councillors.

“We are always looking over our shoulders to ensure councillors are not silently rallying against us with a vote of no confidence,” he said.

Ogi said it would ensure that people exercised their democratic right and the presidents would have a say on how funds were to be used in their LLGs.

“In most cases presidents have been controlled by their local MPs to agree with whatever decision they make in the joint district planning and budget priority committee (JDP&BPC) meetings because the MPs assist these presidents to win the favour of the councilors to win their seats.

“With people electing who they want as president, the president has been mandated by the people therefore he can speak out without fear to ensure that the JDP&BPC must contribute and allocate development funding to the LLGs.

Tentative election dates for Central are: Issues of writs (June 6 at 4pm), nominations close (June 12 at 4pm), campaign starts (June 12 at 4pm), polling starts (July 6), polling ends (Aug 9) and return of writs (Aug 30).

Nomination fees for ward councillor and presidential candidates are K200.