Approaching the midpoint of the government’s term in office, the Constitution Reform Commission bill is to be debated today in the National Assembly and Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC yesterday said it was testimony to the PPP/C’s commitment to action and not just lip service as its predecessor APNU+AFC.
“After more than 20 years, no constitutional reform has been active on the political agenda of both government and opposition. A Bill to kick-start constitutional reform will be debated in the National Assembly (today) and this is (attestation) of not only of a manifesto promise of the PPP but a demonstration of its commitment for constitutional reform,” Nandlall yesterday told Stabroek News.
“What we have as the bill that will be debated was produced by the government and is structured in accordance with our manifesto promise and fortunately in the end, it received the support of the opposition in the committee. The process will begin, the commission that is going to be established by the bill is empowered to regulate its own business and affairs and will autonomously execute plans and execute its working agenda,” he said.
In August of this year, the bill was tabled by Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira on behalf of the Attorney General who had at the time been in court.
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. In its manifesto, the party also promised constitutional reform.
The bill, according to its explanatory memorandum, provides for the establishment of the Constitution Reform Commission, its membership and terms of reference. It added that the membership of the proposed commission is diverse and the terms of reference and powers are broad enough to ensure that the process is conducted in a consultative manner.
According to the bill, the CRC shall consist of 20 members to be appointed by the President. The ruling PPP/C is expected to nominate five members, APNU+AFC four and the list joinder of LJP, ANUG and TNM is entitled to nominate one member. Additionally, the Bar Association, Labour Movement, National Toshaos Council, private sector, women’s organisations, youth organisations, farmers and each of the three major religions are all entitled to one seat each on the Commission. The bill provides for the President, acting in accordance with his own deliberate judgement, to appoint a Chair of the Commission. The commission is entitled to elect the deputy chairperson.
Clause 7 of the bill provides that in order to execute the objectives of the legislation, the Commission shall review the Constitution of Guyana, to provide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities and obligations of the Guyanese people. In furtherance of that purpose, it shall receive, consider and evaluate submissions for the alteration of the Constitution and report its recommendations to the Standing Committee for transmission to the National Assembly.
The Commission will submit its report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Constitutional Reform. The Committee is chaired by Nandlall and includes Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr and parliamentarian Sanjeev Datadin from the government side of the National Assembly, and Aubrey Norton, Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman, and Amanza Walton-Desir from the opposition side.
Nandlall yesterday blistered the APNU+AFC for what he said were broken promises to the people of this country.
“It will be recalled that constitutional reform was one of the top priorities in the manifesto of APNU and the AFC at the 2011 elections. They won a one-seat majority at those elections. No other than the Leader Mr. David Granger was selected to chair the Constitutional Standing committee on constitutional reform of the National Assembly. And it was a committee on which they had the majority of the membership,” he argued.
“The committee not only hardly met, but produced nothing by the end of that parliamentary term. Again, in their 2015 manifesto constitutional reform featured prominently. And in their 100-day plan, they promised the establishment of a constitutional reform commission and the completion of its work. Yet by 2020, at the end of five years, absolutely nothing in relation to constitutional reform crystalized,” he added.
He said all the years and works promised saw millions in dollars to look at the issue but even when a report was produced, recommendations from it “never saw the light of day”.
Nandlall compared that to the work his government has done in two years. “Now we have a Bill which the committee began to sit in December of 2020. We awaited four months for an input from the opposition but received none… [But] we have a bill that will be debated…,” he said.
And pointing to the “very broad-based commission” that will be formed swiftly after the Bill’s passage, he said that hopefully it “will represent and prosecute the interest of the widest cross-section of our population”.
