Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie
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Desmond McKenzie
The government is seeking to postpone the local government elections until February next year.
A Bill entitled The Representation of the People (Postponement of Elections to Municipal Corporations and City Municipalities) Act 2022 was tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
Last November, Parliament approved the postponement of the elections until February 27, 2022 as the country dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.
But on Tuesday, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie, who tabled the Bill, told the House of Representatives that the current situation is even worse than last November.
He explained that with more than 90 per cent of polling stations in the country operating out of classrooms, "it would be irresponsible of us at this time to expose our schools to that level of traffic that they would experience during an election".
Mr. McKenzie said this was especially crucial given that schools had just recently returned to face-to-face classes.
The opposition was not against a postponement of the elections but said the February 2023 time frame is excessive. It instead argued that the postponement should be for six months.
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