Race relations bill set to be approved Thursday
THERE was no clear confirmation yesterday whether the Constitution (Amendment), (No 2) Bill 2000, which was stalled in the National Assembly Thursday night minutes before its third and final reading, requires a two-thirds majority voting in the House for approval. A legal source said there are different opinions by some experts in the field. "In such a situation, which is unique to the Guyana Parliament, the safest thing is to go for the two-thirds majority," the source added. He said the confusion apparently arose because of the insertion of a new article in the existing Constitution. The technical argument is whether by adding an article a two-thirds majority is required. It was also pointed out that the decision taken to go for a two-thirds majority was to safeguard against litigation. The bill was stalled after a head count found the House was short of five constituted members for its passage. It will now come up for its third reading Thursday. The historic piece of legislation is aimed at improving race relations in the country. All four parties in the assembly fully backed the bill Thursday but it was not approved because officials thought it required two-thirds majority support and this could not be had because enough members were not at the sitting. But the Chronicle understands some legal experts said the bill is a new article and not an amendment to the Constitution and therefore needs only a simple majority and not two-thirds to be approved. This came to light after the assembly was forced to adjourn sitting because there were not enough members to constitute a two-thirds majority. Members from both sides of the House had hailed the bill as a landmark piece of legislation in the history of the country and Parliament which can determine the future of this country. Despite desperate efforts by parliamentarians from both sides, they were unable to get some of their members to the House to pass the bill. People's National Congress (PNC) and Opposition Leader, Mr Desmond Hoyte, and PNC Parliamentarian Mr John de Freitas, were among those present earlier but they left. De Freitas, contacted by his colleagues returned just minutes before the adjournment was taken, and some time after Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr Harripersaud Nokta, who was out of town with President Bharrat Jagdeo, arrived. Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Reepu Daman Persaud, in an invited comment said, "It is unfortunate that after receiving unanimous support such an important piece of legislation could not be passed because the required number was not there." He said the adjournment will definitely put a delay in his plans for the bill as he had hoped to have President Jagdeo assent to it early next week. The Leader of the Government's business in the House and veteran Parliamentarian said too, it is the first time he can recall such a situation, at such a juncture. Information Minister, Mr Moses Nagamootoo and Chairman of the Oversight Committee on Constitutional Reform which worked on the legislation, in an invited comment after the adjournment said, "It (Bill) is a landmark development for Guyana into a new legislative culture. Not only do we have a piece of law, this is an important component of the Constitution as it is now amended to create an Ethnic Relations Commission so that all citizens can now be now be protected by the Constitution and have a place for recourse or redress, if they are discriminated against on the basis of their race." "This is, as was said by most of the other speakers, the most important piece of legislation that has come out of Guyana as a multi-ethnic society to extend and act as an umbrella of security for all the people of all ethnicities in Guyana", he said.
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