Former PPP stalwart Ralph Ramkarran has encouraged the new government to stick to its promises for constitutional reform and says that it must not allow the PPP to derail the opportunity to fix the political system.
“The government must not be diverted from this major electoral undertaking by allowing the PPP to derail an opportunity, which may never return, to fix our political system. If a two-thirds majority would not be possible without PPP support, Article 164 provides for a simple majority and a referendum for constitutional changes,” Ramkarran wrote in his Sunday Stabroek column yesterday.
“Even if the PPP opposes proposals for constitutional reform, the electorate will be easily persuaded if the reforms are reasonable, not designed for partisan benefit and go some way towards structural reform of our governmental system that will encourage or necessitate inclusivity across the political spectrum,” he added.
The former Speaker of the National Assembly had earlier recalled that constitutional reform is one of the undertakings given by the APNU+AFC coalition in its 100-day programme. He said that no doubt the government is looking to make an announcement on the issue before the end of the 100-day period.
However, Ramkarran pointed out, Guyana’s political culture suggests that the PPP will not participate in the constitutional reform process. He said that two principles will guide that decision.
“The first is whether there is anything in constitutional reform to benefit the PPP. The second is to try to obstruct anything the government wants to accomplish. The PPP is likely to be happy with the existing situation, which permits a party with only a plurality to take office. It may well speculate that with the collapse of the Cummingsburg Accord and the AFC’s loss or relinquishment of capacity to influence decisions or policy, it will lose its independent voice and distinct character,” he asserted.
“The PPP will calculate that the AFC will lose all or most of its separate support, thereby opening the possibility of the PPP returning to office with a plurality. There are other possible scenarios but the above is the most feasible. From the PPP’s perspective, therefore, constitution reform would not be in its interest,” he said while urging the government not to let its programme in this regard be derailed.
Nine months
In their Manifesto, the APNU+AFC coalition had said that within the first 100 days of the formation of a Government of National Unity a number of things “will be done” including the “Establishment of a Constitutional Reform Committee with a mandate to complete consultations, draft amendments and present same to the National Assembly for approval within nine months.”
The 100 days will be up on August 24. Stabroek News was unable to reach government officials on the matter yesterday.
The coalition trumpeted constitutional reform several times in its manifesto. One reference said that “APNU+AFC recognizes that the Constitution, in its current form, does not serve the best interest of Guyana or its people. Within three months of taking up office, APNU+AFC will appoint a Commission to amend the Constitution with the full participation of the people. The new Constitution will put the necessary checks and balances in place to consolidate our ethos of liberal democracy. Freedom of speech, reduction of the power of the President and the Bill of Rights will be enshrined in the document.”
Another reference spoke to “immediately” appointing a Constitutional Reform Commission consisting of representatives of all major stakeholders – trades unions, the private sector, religious and faith-based organisations, women, youths, professional organizations and the University. “Its mandate will be to undertake the urgent task of fashioning comprehensive reforms, for early implementation, designed to guarantee a democratic society free from the abuse of citizens by those in high office fuelled by the exercise of arbitrary powers and behaviour by the Executive which is inconsistent with the spirit and provisions of the Constitution,” the document said.
Earlier this year, then Presidential Candidate and now President David Granger had told Stabroek News that if elected, the coalition promises within its first 100 days to announce a date for Local Government Elections, free up the telecoms and ICT sectors and set up a constitution reform body and the Public Procurement Commission among other things. He had explained that in addition to the agreement signed between the two parties, the alliance will make a public commitment to address priority areas during its term in office such as a programme for the reconciliation of the people.
Meaningful
“These priority areas include a programme for healing and reconciliation and the introduction of a meaningful constitutional reform programme geared towards improved governance and their fair representation, the sustained improvement of crime prevention and the security environment, local government reforms and the holding of Local Government Elections,” he said.
Ramkarran, meantime, recalled that 15 years ago, leading member, Secretary and Chair, respectively, of the Constitutional Reform Commission, namely Miles Fitzpatrick, Haslyn Parris and himself handed in their report to the Speaker of the National Assembly. The feeling at that time by some was that the process did not resolve the most fundamental problems facing Guyana, he said.
“The two main unresolved issues were the powers of the president and shared governance. In relation to the first, while there was some tinkering, the only way to substantially reduce the powers of the executive president was to limit his or her executive authority to certain portfolios, such as defence, foreign affairs and maybe others and with a cabinet under a prime minister responsible for the remainder – something administratively attempted under the Cummingsburg Accord, which has clearly failed. The other option would have been to convert the presidency to a ceremonial one with certain enhanced powers relating to the appointment of a government after elections and oversight over certain constitutional issues and appointments. The main political parties were not interested in either,” he wrote.
He said that the stark reality of the flaws in Guyana’s constitution was revealed in the 2011 elections. It permitted a minority government to take and hold office for three years, achieving nothing, until elections were called, Ramkarran said.
“While the APNU+AFC coalition promised constitutional reform, and may well have been persuaded by the 2011 situation to make it a priority, there was little in the way of detail as to exactly what will be amended,” he said. The former Speaker stated that much favourable sentiment still exists in favour of the enshrinement of shared governance or ‘winner does not take all.’ However, it remains to be seen whether the government will continue to favour these ideas, strongly supported by Granger in the campaign, now that it is in office.
“The first issue that needs to be considered is the mechanism for constitutional reform. In our recent history the first attempt after the Independence Constitution was in 1980. The mechanism was a Constituent Assembly established by a motion of the National Assembly and comprising mainly the National Assembly. The second effort was after the 1992 elections when the National Assembly established a Special Select Committee by motion. It did not complete its work by 1997 when the National Assembly was dissolved for the 1997 elections. The final process was in 1999-2000 by the Constitution Reform Commission, which was established by the Constitution Reform Commission Act. By agreement among the political parties, the Act provided that the Commission be comprised of political parties and civil society,” he said.
According to Ramkarran, the government will now have to decide whether to adopt one of these methods, or whether to establish a parliamentary Constitution Reform Committee which has the power to co-opt expert members. “This is provided for by the Constitution and the Standing Orders. Alternatively, the government may decide to establish a different process altogether,” he pointed out.
