The PPP/C cannot force any changes to the laws of this country on citizens and therefore the constitutional reform process will see suggestions for legislative changes from across the country, Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC has said.
If inclusive governance is to be one of those laws, then it will be from a recommendation made by the people and for the people, he reasoned, underscoring that consultations by the Constitutional Reform Commission will be inclusive for all citizens of this country.
“This Constitutional Reform Commission is not a PPP/C organ, but a national, broad-based, multi-stakeholder organisation as is outlined in its creating statute. Every citizen, stakeholder organisation, civil society groups and political parties will have an opportunity to consult with and make recommendations to the commission including the PPP/C on all matters which they deem fit, including matters relating to governance,” Nandlall said.
He was responding to former speaker of the National Assembly and one time PPP/C executive member Ralph Ramkarran, who lamented the sloth in starting the process and said that the PPP/C fulfilling a promise in its manifesto to have constitutional reform was useless, if changes doesn’t see inclusive governance.
“The institutions which have been created, such as the constitutional commissions and the sectoral parliamentary committees, are not functioning either at all or optimally. Article 13 of the Constitution that provides for consultation is not functionally implemented. The problem, therefore, outside of inclusive governance, is not the constitution, but implementation of its provisions. Other matters provided for in the act are more appropriately dealt with by legislation,” Ramkarran wrote in his Conversation Tree blog last week.
He posited, “Fulfilling a manifesto promise to implement constitutional reform is not sufficient unless that promise includes the purpose or reason for the promise, namely, inclusive governance. It must be assumed that when the PPP/C made the promise in its Manifesto, it was of the view that inclusive governance was not provided for in the Constitution and reform was necessary to include it…it is expected, therefore, that notwithstanding the questionable omission in which the process is going to be conducted, that inclusive governance will be a major issue in the constitution reform process, as it is in the PPP/C’s Manifesto.”
Ramkarran pointed out that the 2023 Budget has allocated $150 million to constitutional reform and Nandlall had announced that the process would commence at the conclusion of the inquiry into the elections, which finishes sometime next month.
Making reference to the PPP/C Manifesto for 2020-2025, he quoted the party’s position on constitutional reform.
“Ensuring people’s participation in revising the Supreme Law of our land. We are aware that issues concerning constitutional reform, particularly in relation to a national, inclusive governance model, management of elections, fiduciary accountability, enhancing rights of Guyanese and ensuring constitutional language is simple have been raised and discussed in the public domain,” Ramkarran quoted.
He said the provision in the act which sets out the mandate of the Commission, did not include “a national, inclusive governance model,” as promised in the Manifesto.
“The big question is: will the PPP/C members, and those who support them, allow discussion in the commission on a system of inclusive governance which the PPP/C supported not only in its manifesto but also in public statements, but which it did not see fit to specifically include in the Commission’s mandate?” he questioned.
“If such a negative situation arises – hopefully it would not – it is open to the Commission to infer from its broad mandate that inclusive governance is an appropriate subject for discussion in order to contend with many of the mandated issues including “promoting ethnic security and equal opportunity” and ensuring that the “views of the minorities in the decision-making process and in the conduct of government are given due consideration,” he added.
Cherry picking
Nandlall accused Ramkarran of cherry picking excerpts from the manifesto and said his reference missed an important part in the sentences that followed his referenced quote.
“The sentence immediately following that passage is omitted. It is this omitted portion that puts the foregoing quote into context. The omitted part reads: ‘However, we believe that these, as well as other issues, must be part of a process of widespread consultation with the people of Guyana before being acted upon. The extensive changes to our Constitution under the PPP/C followed such a process,” Nandlall posited.
“Moving forward, we are committed to continuous revision of the Constitution. In this regard, we will ensure that the Committee on Constitutional Reform that will advance the work will pursue nationwide consultation following the model used in the past, that is, with half of the members from civil society and equal representation from government and the opposition.”
Ramkarran’s blog said the issue of inclusive governance has been on the political agenda since the late 1980s and, “in one form or another, long before”.
The issue, he pointed out, assumed urgency in the recent past, so much so that the PPP/C recognised it in its manifesto and committed to it.
He said that time will tell whether discussion will be tolerated in the Commission on inclusive governance. If not, he believes that “there would be no conceivable reason for constitutional reform,” as it was set out.
Soon after the PPP/C took office in August of 2020, Nandlall outlined the legislative agenda for his ministry. 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 act, according to its explanatory memorandum, provides for the establishment of the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC), 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.
Clause Seven provides that in order to execute the objectives of the legislation, the CRC 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.
In conducting the review of the Constitution, the CRC shall consider inter alia, the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Guyanese, the rights of women, children and the indigenous people, improving race relations and promoting ethnic security and equal opportunity and reforms relating to elections.
Additionally, it shall ensure that the views of minorities in the decision-making process and in the conduct of government are given due consideration. Further, it shall consult with the widest possible geographical area, with as many persons, groups, communities, organisations and institutions as possible, including youth organisations, high school and university students, the private sector, professional bodies and the media.
After concluding its work, the CRC shall prepare a report, giving details of its recommendations and the reasons for those recommendations in a clear and comprehensive manner to enable the Constitution to be reformed and that report shall be submitted to the National Assembly.
It also provides that the commission shall have the privileges and immunities of the National Assembly while clauses 9-11 deal with the administrative and technical support that will be
implemented to enable the CRC to carry out its mandate in a timely and efficient manner.
The commission will submit its report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Constitutional Reform. The current committee is chaired by Nandlall and includes Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, Minister of Public Service Parag, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr and parliamentarian Datadin from the government side of the National Assembly, and Aubrey Norton, Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman, and Amanza Walton-Desir from the opposition side.
‘Exhaustively’
Nandlall said that as he understood it, the Constitution Reform Commission Act which establishes the Constitutional Reform Commission, vests in that commission the broadest of mandates, but “the drafter cannot be expected to exhaustively list in the legislation every aspect of national life that will be subject of review by the commission. The legislation is expected to be interpreted generously and with its framers’ intent in mind.”
Moving forward, he said the PPP/C is committed to continuous revision of the Constitution.
“In this regard, we will ensure that the Committee on Constitutional Reform that will advance the work will pursue nationwide consultation following the model used in the past, that is, with half of the members from civil society and equal representation from government and the opposition,” he stressed.
He said it would be recognized that the formula for the composition of the commission as expressed in the PPP/C’s Manifesto “is now codified in the legislation as well as the consultative process in which the commission shall engage in the discharge of its mandate.
“However for the record, as far as I am aware, the PPP/C has long expressed its commitment to inclusive governance, as Mr Ramkarran recognised in his article. It will be recalled that this is the principle which inspired the changes that were effected in the 1999 – 2000 constitutional reform process. I do not know that our position has changed. In fact, every day our government works to make itself and its processes as inclusive and accessible as possible,” Nandlall said.
