Members of the Civil Society Forum (CSF) met with Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton and a team from the People’s National Congress Reform last Wednesday.
The meeting, which follows the CSF’s efforts to engage with key stakeholders, saw the two sides discuss key issues, including an understanding of the role of civil society in social, electoral, and constitutional matters.
In a statement, the CSF said it outlined its core agenda as being: Developing and pursuing a Civil Society Agenda, including on electoral reform; Strengthening the legal architecture for civil society; Improving the performance of key state institutions; and Helping to heal Guyana’s socio-political wounds.
It noted that Norton said that civil society is an important aspect of Guyana’s democracy and supports the independent functioning of civil society as articulated in the Constitution.
“The opposition recognized that there are limitations within the existing system that could be improved through constitutional and electoral reform. To this end the Opposition is in favour of any reforms that will insulate elections from partisan influence,” the statement said.
It also noted that Norton is supportive of constitutional reform as a mechanism towards insulating the Guyanese society against state control, and is keen that any constitutional reform process must address the overarching governance need for decentralization in such a way as to create competent institutions, inclusive of local governments and other state bodies.
The CSF, which was formally launched on January last year, comprises the Electoral Reform Guyana, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Heal Guyana, the Inter-Religious Organisation, the Roman Catholic Church and the Transparency Institute Guyana Inc.
It has said that it was set up to work towards realising Article 13 of the Constitution and that it will focus primarily on “creating a truly inclusionary democracy that serves as a vehicle for citizens to participate in the decision-making process of the state.”
