Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform in place

Jan 16, 2021 News

The Parliamentary Constitutional Reform Committee has been installed with Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall as the Chairman.
The Committee has a mandate to continually review the effectiveness of the working of the Constitution and making periodic reports there on to the National Assembly, with proposal for reforms as necessary.
Among the list of Committee members are Education Minister, Priya Manickchand; Sports Minister, Charles Ramson; Public Service Minister, Sonia Parag; and Member of Parliament (MP), Sanjeev Datadin.
Representing the Opposition on the Committee are MPs Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman and Nicolette Henry, along with Amanza Walton-Desir.
To assist in its work, the Committee has the power to co-opt experts or enlist the aid of other persons of appropriate expertise, whether or not such experts or other persons are members of the National Assembly.
Both of the major political parties, the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) and the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) have for years peddled a rhetoric of undertaking constitutional reform, as recorded in the recent and past manifestos of both parties.
Even before the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections fiasco, constitutional reform was placed high on the agenda for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).
The push for it came tenfold however, after the elections ordeal with numerous stakeholders including the Carter Center, CARICOM and the European Union calling for constitutional reform to be the utmost priority for the newly installed regime.
The previous Constitutional Reform Committee was headed by the then AG, Basil Williams and consisted of familiar faces – Ramjattan, Trotman, Henry and then Public Service Minister Rupert Roopnarine along with the new AG, Minister Manickchand, Health Minister Frank Anthony and MP Adrian Anamayah.
However, that Committee boasted a scanty track record as it only met less than seven times in five years, as data show.
The new Committee is expected to have its next meeting sometime soon where a Vice Chairman will be elected.
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