Dear Editor,
Please permit me to respond to a letter authored by Mr. Lincoln Lewis titled `Constitutional symposium panellists should understand the Constitution before speaking on it’ which appeared in the Sunday Stabroek dated September 24, 2017.
Mr Lewis attempted to school me on changes permissible under the Representation of the People Act. I wish to direct his attention to the full statement released by RISE which covers RISE’s contribution to the Symposium. In that statement RISE said, inter alia, “some of these changes require constitutional amendments and others can be effected via legislation”. The statement clearly recognises that not all of the changes required amendment to the Constitution.
Mr. Lewis is so obstinate in his opposition to constitutional reform that he can’t see the forest for the trees. I agree with him that there is a serious problem with the lack of enforcement of current provisions of the Constitution. However, there is also a need for reform. A simple case in point is the Sovereign Wealth Fund. The Minister of Natural Resources publicly stated that entrenching certain aspects of the Fund in the Constitution was an idea worthy of consideration.
I trust that you will give this letter the same prominence given to that of Mr. Lewis.
Yours faithfully,
Terrence Campbell
