APNU Member of Parliament and Co-Leader of the Working People’s Alliance Dr David Hinds has indicated that he intends to push for poverty alleviation and constitutional reform in the recently convened 13th Parliament.
Dr Hinds is one of the 12 APNU Members of Parliament.
In an interview with News Source, Dr Hinds said the 13th Parliament has convened at a time when a large percentage of Guyanese remain in poverty, despite the country’s rapid economic growth linked to its ever expanding Oil and Gas Industry. According to the World Bank, Guyana has a poverty rate of 48.4%.
“We feel that if we can put a dent in poverty, then we can move from growth to development. Because we have growth in the country, what we don’t have is development. And we feel that if we are able to get rid of poverty or reduce it drastically, then, we are on the way to development, and not development of just infrastructure, physical infrastructure, but development of human infrastructure,” Dr Hinds said.
He said as part of the APNU’s legislative agenda, Bills that directly address poverty in the country, will be tabled.
Constitutional Reform, he added, is among other issues the WPA intends to push as part of the APNU in Parliament.
“The last time we had constitutional reform was 25 years ago. And any country like Guyana needs to refresh its constitutional framework as regularly as possible, and so, we are going to be championing constitutional reform. We are just out of an election and we note the confusion resulting from the elections. And so, constitutional reform, first on that agenda is electoral reform,” he said.
He said Constitutional reform is urgently needed to address a number of challenges confronting the country, citing the current composition of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), electoral framework and the need for strict separation of power. He said it’s unfortunate that the Executive controls the Legislature and dictates its operation.
“Parliament has three major functions, the first function is law making, and we have to ensure that we use the opportunity to upgrade the laws that need upgrading, to introduce laws that are needed to be introduced to bring the constitution in line with what is happening in the present. The second function is oversight, oversight, especially of the Executive Branch. We have a runaway Executive that feels it is above the law, it takes advantage of the lax separation of power,” he said.
A 20-member Constitutional Reform Commission was appointed by President Irfaan Ali in April 2024, but little progress has been made since it was established. With significant changes within the Opposition, the Government has indicated its plan to reexamine the composition of the Commission.
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