THE Prime Minister has said the date of local government elections will be announced on May 29, and will be within three months of May 18.

He said legislation will be brought to the House of Representatives on May 29 to validate the legal status of councillors and aldermen and the operations of local government corporations between December 3, 2022 to May 18.

The one-year extension of local government corporations' lives began on December 3. May 18 was the date when the Privy Council ruled this extension unlawful.

Dr Rowley was addressing the House on Wednesday.

He said once the validation bill is passed, the local government elections date will be named.

He defended the Government's decision to extend the life of local government by a year as part of the reform process.  Although the Privy Council ruled the one-year extension unlawful, it did not deem the extension a constitutional breach or that it deprived people of the right to vote.

Rowley supported the comment by Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, that the validity of the legal status of local government practitioners and the operations of local government corporations was covered by the De Facto Officers Doctrine, which dates back to the 1730s

Armour made this comment in the Senate on Tuesday.

He said, that doctrine gave validity to the actions of the officers "who were duly elected and continued to be duly elected until the decision of the Privy Council."

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar asked Rowley to advise on the status of councillors and aldermen as a result of the judgment,

Rowley told Persad-Bissessar he had referred to this in his statement.

He added that that the only advice he could give her was to stop doing things to damge Trinidad and Tobago's image.

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