Contextualizing the political rhetoric of Constitution Reform

Jun 26, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
The essayist Verian Mentis-Baker in a (as usual) very erudite treatise – this time on GUYANA CONSTITUTION REPAIR – poses a question that rebukes any superficial knowledge of our National Constitution; the question posed is ‘…when was the last time “We the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana” read the Constitution, understanding its influence over our day to day existence…even seeing what it says and particularly of late?’
The rebuke…entrenched in the author’s assertion (with which all thinking Guyanese should agree) that, ‘It’s not enough to acknowledge constitutional illiteracy with a mere shrug of nonchalance. This is the one document that defines our national identity. Its place in our cultural heritage, citing the six peoples of our nation and the bond of nationality that yields ‘One people, One nation with One destiny’, is patently unique. Its values are what bind us together as a nation, not race or ethnicity or culture; not politics or party.’
According to Ms Mentis-Barker in her June 21, 2018 XpressBlogg piece – it was ‘a tone of over-instruction’ in our Constitution Amendment that led to the excavation of some significant historical facts which to this writer’s mind – illuminate the political strategy informing Bharat Jagdeo’s contemporary race baiting in the nation’s media outlets…providing him with far too much air time.
Noting that the ‘over-instructive tone’ was what prompted her in-depth production of a well-researched document that provides context for the nation’s contemporary political environment – the author states that it ‘… made us curious and in searching, we found some history that may not be as widely known as it should be…that was somehow patented for political gain and infused into this Constitution, which should be the People’s Contract…as in ALL the people.
‘See,’ she reveals – ‘while the fight for Independence was being waged primarily by Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham, Stephen Campbell, an Amerindian from Santa Rosa of the North West District was just as actively fighting but – to preserve the lands he felt were the exclusive property of Amerindians only.’
The author’s research further reveals that – ‘Colin Palmer’s ‘Cheddi Jagan and the politics of Power’ (p. 205 -206) adds an exclamation point to this period in Guyana’s history…
‘It details the words of 1958 American Consul, General Melby who recounts: …Stephen Campbell admitted that there was historical “antipathy, hostility between Africans and Amerindians dating back to “when his people served as slave catchers”. Amerindians, said Campbell, voted as a racial group and having to choose between the black man, the white man and the coolie man…preferred the white man because he was the “known factor”. Campbell… showed a “lower opinion of the African”, disdaining those who were “more English than the English” and expressed admiration for the economic proficiency of the Indian.’
There’s more – much more that’s just as illuminating to this exposition that leads to the author/researcher ‘s plausible assertion – ‘By deduction, this sets up the perfect ally for the PPP to expand its predominantly East Indian base’, and definitely sheds light on the transparency of the Jagdeo/PPP divide and conquer strategy.
After taking the time to read this piece on ‘GUYANA CONSTITUTION REPAIR’, delving into the historic references provided – even those of us who once casually shrugged off ‘constitutional illiteracy’ would agree with the author’s final conclusions that – ‘…This is rot that is now gangrenous and should not be retained by any government succeeding one that deployed this relatively surreptitious effort to change the Nation’s Constitution for partisan gain.
‘We’re not sure what the Coalition Reform suggestions submitted to the Prime Minister are; but in the interest of retaining our values, upholding our motto and extending the appreciation, dignity and respect that is the inheritance of each race, we ask that this amendment, the one that singles out one race from amongst six, to ‘value and recognize’ be reviewed for pertinence to what we, as a nation, proclaim.
Joan Cambridge
CEO
Julian Mayfield Foundation.

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