On his weekly Facebook programme ‘Issues in the News,’ Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC last Tuesday announced that the process for constitutional reform will commence this year and he hoped for the full participation of all stakeholders.
Nandlall, who also holds the portfolio of Minister of Legal Affairs, said that he has already requested that the Committees Division of the National Assembly fix a date for a meeting of the Standing Committee on Constitutional Reform.
He said that the process was stymied last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and a number of other matters, but stressed that once the meeting is held, the process will begin to achieve momentum “and we will have constitutional reform.”
Nandlall expressed hope that all stakeholders will participate in the process so that a healthy consultative exercise can be had and that it can produce solid recommendations to propel the way forward.
Last July, Nandlall had disclosed that the National Assembly’s Constitutional Reform Committee met only twice for the year due to COVID-19 constraints but at the same time had noted that should not be seen as non-commitment to the process by the PPP/C government.
Nandlall, who is also Chairman of the Committee, had said that all plans were stalled because of the impact of COVID-19 on the staff of the Parliament Office.
Soon after the PPP/C took office in August of 2020, Nandlall had outlined the legislative agenda for his ministry and he had said that reform of the election laws and constitution were high on the agenda.
