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House passes Constitutional Reform Bill
Gov’t, Opposition participation crucial to moving process forward – Deputy Speaker
Kaieteur News – The Constitutional Reform Bill was on Monday passed in the National Assembly in the absence of the main political opposition, A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) party.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC (DPI)
The Opposition had staged a walk out as the Bill was being presented by Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC during Monday’s Sitting of the National Assembly at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, Georgetown.
Nandlall, during his presentation, noted importance of constitutional reform as a fundamental process for an evolving society. He said process requires widespread participation – not only from the country’s political leadership but also the citizenry.
He said that the Constitutional Reform Commission Bill caters for the establishment of a Commission to review the country’s supreme laws. The Commission will be tasked with gathering information to submit to the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform for its input before going to the House as amendments to the Constitution.
According to Nandlall, the country’s constitutional landscape requires periodic review to ensure that as the society evolves and as the country transforms, the Constitution reflects that transformation.
As such, the Attorney General said that constitutional reform has rightfully been a forefront issue for all stakeholders. “This work of constitutional reform is not only of national importance but it forms the platform promise of every single political party that contested the last elections. As I said, by its very nature, it requires the full participation of the Parliament, it requires bi-partisanship if it is to succeed,” he said.
Deputy Speaker, Lennox Shuman
Nandlall continued: “The PPP government is aware that the issues concerning constitutional reform, particularly in relation to an inclusive governance model, management of elections, enhancing rights of Guyanese and ensuring constitutional language are simplified…I hope that the people of this country are looking on and are seeing that we have made a promise and we are in the process of delivering on that promise.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lennox Shuman, shared this perspective that despite its importance to the citizenry, constitutional reform has been made into a “political football” for both the Government of Guyana and Opposition. Both the Government and Opposition have promised constitutional reform. This is yet to be achieved.
During his contribution to the debate on the legislation, Shuman said he believes that constitutional reform is paramount and urges the “wholehearted and full support” of all stakeholders to drive the process forward.
Shuman requested that the government considers adding including another representative from a Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that represents Indigenous people. Further, he proposed that the Indigenous People’s Commission lead countrywide consultations within Indigenous communities.
“…It is my humble view that we reach as many of those people in those communities as possible and it is my hope that when we go through this process, those far-flung communities are given extra attention so that they can fully and meaningfully contribute to the process,” the Deputy Speaker said.
Shuman expressed disappointment that members of the APNU+AFC opposition were absent from Monday’s debate.
“Constitutional reform, in my humble view, should not be an issue of which side of the political line you sit…Yet there is a party that claims to represent over 50 percent of the people but decide that they do not want to participate in this very critical and important discussion,” Shuman said.
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