Datadin accuses absent opposition members of hampering constitutional reform

Jul 10, 2022 News

---

Kaieteur News – People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Sanjeev Datadin on Friday called out opposition members for their continuous absence from meetings set up to discuss matters related to constitutional reform, accusing them of deliberately hampering the process.

Datadin in a Facebook post related that there was yet another meeting of the Parliamentary Constitutional Reform Committee and the Opposition has failed yet again to submit proposals.

“None… Not a single proposal from the Opposition. The Government side had submitted its proposal and now has a draft Bill for consideration …The Opposition has no interest in any Constitutional reform (sic),” he commented in the post.

In a follow up comment with this newspaper, Datadin, an attorney-at-law by profession explained that there have been eight meetings on constitutional reform with hardly any involvement of the opposition members of the committee.

“At this last meeting [on Friday] one member eventually showed up late.  The previous meeting no opposition member was present. The opposition has been doing their utmost to frustrate the process. We agreed that each side would give a proposal as to what we want to see put into the draft bill to establish the constitutional commission… there has basically been no work from the opposition on this,” Datadin said.

He added that not only has the opposition not been participating or playing their role as part of the commission but they have failed to provide the committee with a valid reason for their lack of involvement.

“Ms. [Amanza] Walton-Desir had asked for time last April to submit a proposal, that time was extended to May but up until this date, the committee is yet to see Ms. Walton-Desir or that proposal. And on top of it all the committee has not been provided with a valid reason for her absence,” he added.

Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and Opposition member of the committee, Khemraj Ramjattan claimed that the Government side has a misplaced view of their involvement in the process.

He stated that there is no need for any major involvement of the opposition at this point.

“I had already given them the go ahead eight weeks ago, that the same terms that were used to draft the legislation for last commission which was set up to guide constitutional reform in 2000 can be used again… This was already done. Why we have to go and reinvent the wheel and you got to go and refer back to your Cabinet and party and all that?” he asked.

According to Ramjattan, the government is nitpicking and making excuses about a process as a way of avoiding constitutional reform.

He said, “They don’t want Constitutional Reform so they will place the blame at our doorstep. There was a quorum…If you want constitutional reform, proceed with the quorum that you have…”

Added to this, Ramjattan claimed that the constitutional reform committee meetings are being held at a time that is inconvenient to opposition members.

“I specifically asked them to consider that I have court dates but they continue to set the meetings at times when I have to be in court…,” Ramjattan said.

Last April, another PPP/C MP on Constitutional Reform Committee had also criticised the opposition for its poor attendance and involvement in the meetings.   PPP/C member, Priya Manickchand shared her sentiments in a Facebook post as well.

She said, “The Opposition fails to turn up to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform meeting scheduled…Throughout (David) Granger’s Chairmanship of the Standing Committee (between) 2011 and 2015 nothing happened…Between 2015 to 2020 again, very little happened. So when they tell you they want reform, you are allowed to laugh.PS: One member shows up half an hour late,” she said.

The back and forth between the government and opposition over constitutional reform comes months after Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, announced that the process was well on its way.

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. Last July, he had disclosed that the National Assembly’s Constitutional Reform Committee met only twice for the year due to COVID-19 constraints but at the same time he had noted that that should not be seen as non-commitment to the process by the PPP/C government.

According to Nandlall, a standing Committee for Constitutional Reform was appointed pursuant to Article 119A of the Constitution. The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform consists of at least six members nominated by the Committee of Selection.

The Committee was appointed for the purpose of the continually reviewing the effectiveness of the working of the Constitution and making periodic reports there on to the National Assembly, with proposal for reform as necessary. To assist in its work, the Committee also 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.

 

---

---