We are now well into what has been described as the silly season when the major political parties jostle for supremacy in what might be the most consequential local government elections in the country’s history.

It is now eight years since the last election was held — the one to be held now having been postponed twice. The first postponement, as I recall, was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was not a healthy proposition to have an election in the midst of a raging, deadly pandemic. Never mind that the 2020 parliamentary election, which would have seen a greater interaction of the Jamaican electorate, was held when similar concerns should have been uppermost in the mind of the Government.

The other time the election was postponed had to do with some spurious budgetary challenge at a time when the Government was touting vast improvement in the country’s fiscal and monetary space. There is even talk now that the elections that are expected to be held in February may very well be postponed. What would be the explanation this time around? Perhaps the most viable would be that the Government is actively considering the twinning of this election with the general, which will be constitutionally due by September 2025.

There is no doubt that if the local government election is held now it will have all the characteristics of a general. It is widely narrated that this local government election will be a referendum on the Andrew Holness Administration. The truth is that every major election is a critique or referendum on the performance of any incumbent Government. The question is whether the Holness Administration is prepared to have this national critique of its performance at this time or will choose to wait a year longer. I believe this is what may be preoccupying the Administration why it has not yet announced the date for the election.

Whatever the consideration, I believe it would make eminent sense that the elections be postponed with the view of them being twinned with the general. This is the only caveat that should be used to delay these elections until 2025. Constructive arguments have been advanced as to the tremendous savings to the national coffers if these elections are twinned. It would give the Electoral Commission of Jamaica the time it will need to establish the mechanisms for this to take place smoothly. Furthermore, it would save the country the gyrations of political chicanery which attend any major election in Jamaica and of which many have become simply fed up. Why put the people through this now only to do so again under one year’s time? This does not make sense to me.

I know that time is of the essence here and the window might have already closed on this happening. But if it could, the Government will need to act with dispatch in coming to a decision in this regard. If the general is to be held by September 2025, active campaigning will begin around the first quarter of 2025. One can be sure that the election will not be held in September when it is constitutionally due. If it is announced to be held earlier, then this narrows the window on campaign activity and other paraphernalia of general electioneering.

I believe the electorate will not find disfavour with a proposal to postpone the local for the expressed purpose of twinning it with the general. This is especially so as it saves time and money and frankly is well overdue. I can hear the loud shout of “unfair, unfair” coming from the Opposition. It is within their remit to make this cry, but we should not make the pragmatic a hostage of hysterical, partisan unease. It hardly makes sense subjecting the country to the cost and nightmare of an election which could be postponed and decided just one more year down the road when another major election has to be held.

It certainly will not be an earth-shaking experience if the local government elections are not held this year. There is more to be gained by the country if the elections are twinned with the coming general than if a new slate of councillors are elected in February. Our towns certainly will not be magically transformed because of this event. But will the government make the hard choice that is needed?

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; The Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.