CRC report Special Select Committee to be set up
A Special Select Committee is to be set up by the National Assembly to expedite consideration of the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) report, after proposals to be made to the Assembly on Monday. The proposals are being put forward by an all-party committee following two meetings under the chairmanship of Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Reepu Daman Persaud. Persaud told Stabroek News that the proposals include the establishment of a Special Select Committee, which would be required to study the report and make recommendations to the National Assembly by October 31, 1999. The composition of this committee will be determined on Monday, but Stabroek News understands that its size will be between 10 to 14 members and will reflect the composition of the National Assembly. Persaud also said that the Special Select Committee will be required to give priority to a number of issues, including the establishment of an Elections Commission. This, Stabroek News understands, is likely to be achieved by an amendment to the present Constitution, which would then be simply incorporated into the new Constitution. This newspaper understands too that the committee, in addition to the advisers from each party, will be able to have its own advisers who will be able to speak but not vote. Those present at yesterday's all-party committee meeting, in addition to Persaud, were Donald Ramotar, general secretary of the PPP/Civic and a government parliamentarian; Winston Murray and Raphael Trotman, PNC parliamentarians; TUF parliamentarian Manzoor Nadir and TUF member, Aubrey Collins; and Alliance for Guyana parliamentarian, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine. The report of the 20-member Constitution Reform Commission which was established in January this year was laid in the National Assembly on July 22. The National Assembly under the Herdmanston Accord is required to complete its consideration of the report so that new elections could be held within 18 months from the date the commission submitted its report to the National Assembly. Constitution reform was one of the measures recommended by the Herdmanston Accord to help return Guyana to normality following the upheavals which followed in the wake of the December 1997 elections. Among the other measures of the Accord was the audit of the December 1997 elections by a team of experts headed by retired Trinidad and Tobago Appellate Court judge, Ulric Cross. The audit report was handed to the leaders of the ten political parties which contested the elections. However, the report did not silence questions about the validity of the elections as the framers of the Accord expected that it would have. Another measure was the political dialogue which so far has produced no tangible results in helping to create an enabling environment among the political parties. It was suspended in February following remarks which were described as inappropriate, and renewed in an agreement brokered in May by Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyoaku. However, since that agreement was brokered only one meeting, during late June, has been held and the next is scheduled for tomorrow. At tomorrow's meeting, the agenda for the talks, which would cover matters at the political party level, is expected to be settled. The accord was signed between the PPP/Civic, the PNC and CARICOM on January 18, 1998, following a goodwill mission comprising Sir Henry Forde, Sir Shridath Ramphal, and Sir Alister McIntyre mounted by CARICOM as the street protests, particularly in Georgetown, escalated. President Janet Jagan and PNC leader, Desmond Hoyte, signed the accord as representatives of their parties. Non-compliance with the terms of the accord led to CARICOM intervening again in July 1998 and the parties signing the St Lucia Statement in Castries, St Lucia, recommitting themselves to implement the accord's measures and to doing so within the time frame stated in the accord.
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