Facing the Future (FtF), an umbrella group supported by a number of sponsoring organizations concerned with the local political process, will convene a one-day conference early next month in order to revise its framework for electoral reform. Following a post-elections meeting to review its campaign for electoral reform, FtF decided to convene the conference at which a wide range of civic organizations and the parliamentary political parties will be invited, a press release from the group said.
The conference format will provide an opportunity for a wide range of civic organizations and parliamentary parties to articulate their positions.
The conference is scheduled for Saturday, January 28, the release stated.
And a background document aimed at facilitating participation will also be circulated early in the New Year. The purpose of the document is to educate people about the work undertaken on electoral reform since 2000 – much of which remains unimplemented, the release noted. According to FtF, the conference is expected to assess the scope of the reform agenda, set a realistic time-table and determine the priority the parliamentary parties attach to this issue as well as the level of civic interest to engage this process. The decision to host a broad-based conference has been encouraged by the results of the recent general elections, which by virtue of having dispersed power among three political parties, has created the most encouraging political scenario in Guyana for many years, FtF said. The group also contended that apart from encouraging negotiation and co-operation, the new arrangements present an opportunity to test the extent to which the fear of retribution for involvement in public activities is now a thing of the past.In addition to the potential of the power-sharing election results, FtF said, the conference is a logical development of the electoral reform campaign itself.
Giving a background to the group, the release recalled that it originated over a year ago in discussions and forum meetings involving a wide range of civic actors, who focused on utilizing the elections campaign to raise awareness of reform issues, particularly among youth.
The benefits generated by campaign activities are to be counted in terms of better informed and more confident young people along with greater awareness among the adult population with respect to the limitations of the existing electoral system, FtF posited. The specific reforms highlighted by FtF were chosen, not because of their priority, but because they could be easily understood and, with the requisite political will, could have been implemented in the relatively short time prior to elections, the release explained. However, since these time constraints are no longer relevant, a stock-taking exercise in the form of the proposed conference coincides also with the process of preparing legislative agenda in which the parties are currently engaged.
Sponsoring organizations are Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Church Women United (CWU), Commonground, Community-Based Rehabilitation-EBD, Guyana Council of Churches (GCC), Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), Guyana Society for the Blind, Guyana Workers Union (GWU), Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Rights of Children (ROC), Red Thread, and Vilvoorden Women’s Organization, the release concluded.
