The first meeting of the new Constitutional Reform Commission took place today at the Commission of Inquiry Secretariat on Middle Street in Georgetown.

At the meeting, Minister of Governance Gail Teixeira was voted in as the Vice Chairperson of the Commission, which has retired Chancellor, Justice Carl Singh as its Chairman.

Teixeira was nominated by Minister Kwame McCoy and voted in without the support of the opposition nominated members of the Commission. She was elected as Vice Chair although she was not present at the meeting.

At the end of the meeting, which lasted for close to two hours, the Chairman of the Constitutional Reform Commission, Justice Carl Singh said there are a number of issues that need to be resolved before the Commission moves on with its work.

“The objective is to reform the Constitution, but we were met today with issues that need to be resolved, and I can tell you, its things like staffing, the composition of the Secretariat, getting appropriate people employed. We can’t really move on with the work of the Commission until those issues are settled”, Justice Singh explained.

The Constitutional Reform Commission Chairman said immediate steps are being taken to work on the issues that have been highlighted. He said there is full commitment to get those issues resolved within a short space of time.

With national elections set to take place next year, and some political parties hoping that the reform process will be completed before then, Justice Singh said the Commission has not been mandated to complete its work before elections.

“It’s not a question on whether this exercise can be completed before elections, we don’t have a mandate to reform the Constitution for the purpose of elections. If you look at the Act, the enabling legislation, it speaks about, most importantly, a review of the fundamental rights of the people of Guyana. So yes, we are also enjoined to consider questions of electoral reform, questions related to the Guyana Elections Commission, so yes these are important issues, but I am not sure that, that is the principle mandate of that Commission, but we have a lot of work to be done”, he said.

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who is also a member of the Commission told News Source that with some issues to be settled, he is hoping that the Commission’s work can be done with some level of alacrity.

The Attorney General said “the Government is committed, as you know, to Constitutional Reform. It was a manifesto promise, and unlike the APNU+AFC, they promised that but it was never brought into fruition. We have started a Commission and the Commission has commenced its work, and hopefully the work of the Commission proceeds with alacrity and the Commission is to determine its own business”.

Opposition nominated member of the Commission, Vincent Alexander, said he hopes the Constitutional Reform process will address the realities of Guyana.

“I hope that this process will address the realities of our country, the fact that we are a plural society, and that our electoral system will reflect that plural society and our governance will reflect that plural society and we should ensure that Constitutional provisions are not only written, but there are mechanisms to ensure that when they are written, they are adhered to. Because what we are faced with right now, is that we have all sorts of provisions that are flouted, and so we need to have a Constitution that ensures us, not only that we subscribe to, but adhere to the things for which we have subscribed”, Alexander said.

Leader of the Alliance For Change, Attorney Nigel Hughes, also sits on the Constitutional Reform Commission. He told News Source this afternoon that he would like to see a number of issues addressed, including issues related to the hosting of elections and the electoral process.

Mr. Hughes said “I certainly think the immediate objectives should be to allow post-election coalitions, to remove the winner take all system, and certainly we have got a whole, we believe for example, the President should have a 60% majority vote, separate from the rest of the National Assembly and that’s just a few of them”. Asked whether he believes those objectives could be realised during the Commission’s work, Hughes said he would not want to put a damper on expectations.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul said now that the Commission has finally gotten down to work, he is hoping that it will move on with its work.

“I am not too optimistic about reaching or submitting a proposed Constitutional amendment by the end of this term because of the slothful movement that I have seen, but I trust that we can work to get it that way, I really trust that we can”, Mahipaul stated.

A number of members of the Commission were absent from today’s meeting. The Commission will be looking at having a much larger secretariat to better accommodate its work and meetings.

Back in April, when the majority of members of the Commission were sworn in, President Irfaan Ali reminded them that the Constitution must remain a living document that would be able to respond to new and emerging challenges, including societal changes, while still upholding its core principles and protecting the rights of citizens.

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