Reformed Constitution already offers inclusive governance
-President
By Gitanjali Singh
Stabroek News
August 22, 2002
President Bharrat Jagdeo said yesterday that the constitutional reform process sanctioned by the 1998 parliament offered an inclusive form of governance and the government and opposition should work to implement those mechanisms to see how they operate and whether they address the concerns of society before looking beyond.
“Tomorrow, I would be willing to sit down and work with the opposition [on implementing the reforms],” the President told reporters at an Office of the President press conference.
Jagdeo’s position came in response to the recent declaration by Opposition Leader, Desmond Hoyte, on the need for a form of adjusted governance for Guyana.
“An adjusted system of governance for our country - whether we call it power sharing, shared governance, inclusive governance or any other name - appears to be an idea whose time has come. It could hardly be claimed that our present arrangements are working in the best interest of the country and its citizens...” Hoyte told the recent PNC/R Biennial Congress at which he was returned as the party’s leader.
Asked to comment on Hoyte’s position and to say whether he would consider further constitutional reform at this time, the President said he had been on the record as saying that his government wanted an adjusted form of governance in Guyana.
He alluded to the CARICOM-brokered Herdmanston Accord between the PPP/C and the PNC and the long process which involved the political parties and civil society and which led to a new constitution that sought to address all of the issues including commissions on human rights, ethnic relations, indigenous people, children and gender.
“These commissions came out of the concerns that were expressed.... Every party sat there and agreed to these...” the President said, but noted that to have these commissions activated, there was need for two-thirds support in the National Assembly as the bodies were to be bipartisan.
He also alluded to the amended electoral system, which allowed for 25 seats by geographic representation and 40 by proportional representation. He insisted that the constitution had features that no other in the region had in terms of inclusivity. He referred to the four sectoral committees (economic, social, natural resources and foreign affairs) which were intended to review government policy as well.
These sectoral committees, the commissions and the parliamentary management committee are in limbo because of the stalemate between the PPP/C and the opposition over membership of these bodies and other matters.
The President insisted that if these changes were not implemented, it would not be known whether the changed systems could work. He said that the reforms removed the general `gaff’ that takes place on discrimination, human rights abuse, corruption and other issues as they provided fora for these issues to be dealt with.
He said that nowhere else in the region did the opposition have as much say and these changes needed to be implemented.
“Let us put in place all the things we agreed to...it is a most inclusive form of government in the Caribbean,” Jagdeo said, noting that the process has built into it mechanisms for continuous review. He said that his approach is not to look at the problems but at solutions, and feels that the government and opposition can really get down to work on solving these issues.
Jagdeo had earlier in the briefing urged the accelerated implementation of the inclusive features of the constitutional reform process. Jagdeo met the civil society group on resuming the dialogue process with the opposition recently but yesterday said he had reservations about the grouping as its composition included persons who had called for the overthrow of the government and could not be considered honest brokers in the process.
He said the government hoped to participate in the process being worked on by the grouping but wanted the group’s representatives to include the church, the temple and the mosque (the three main faiths in the country). He said that the government intended to meet the group again once the issue of its composition was resolved.