The two leaders formally met at the Office of the President on Thursday afternoon and continuing yesterday morning, during which they 'ironed out' several issues which have been contentious in the past, and which now hold renewed hope for the future of Guyana.

This process of 'constructive engagement' between President Jagdeo and Mr. Corbin saw the PNC/R ending its boycott of the National Assembly; the appointment of the very important Ethnic Relations Commission, the members of which were formally sworn in yesterday, and their endorsement of the work of their representatives.

In this regard, the President and Mr. Corbin agreed to the appointment of the seven new Standing Committees of the National Assembly, namely:

** the Parliamentary Management Committee,

** the Four Sector Committees responsible for Natural Resources, Economic Services, Foreign Relations and Social Services,

** the Appointive Committee, and the

** the Constitutional Reform Committee.

The two leaders also agreed to:

** strengthen the capacity of the Parliament Office to service all of the Committees and the National Assembly as a whole;

** the appointment of the Ethnic Relations Commission and arrangement for its functioning;

** the Terms of Reference of the Disciplined Forces Commission which include the inquiry into the operations of the Guyana Police Force;

** the amendment of Article 197 A(5) of the Constitution to provide the Disciplined Forces Commission with the authority and the powers to conduct inquiries; and

** the adjournment and the continuation on Monday (May 5, 2003) of their meeting to conclude the discussion of the remaining matters on their agreed Agenda, after which a full Communique will be issued.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony yesterday of the members and alternate members of the Ethnic Relations Commission, President Jagdeo publicly thanked Mr. Corbin for "his very positive approach" during their constructive engagements.

"I am very, very pleased with our engagements. This is the way it should be. Opposition and Government should work together in the interest of the people and there would be a time for politics - competitive politics - but I think that with Mr. Corbin's example, he's shown that we can still maintain competition whilst at the same time focusing on the tasks that are essential to our people," President Jagdeo said.

"And it’s a landmark day for Guyana in that sense too," he added.

The President also said himself and Mr. Corbin are "very pleased with the work of our representatives".

"They have had some long hours of very constructive engagements and we want to congratulate them for their efforts which we can easily endorse and at the same time move forward the process of constructive engagement," he said.

It is understood that their representatives, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon and PNC/R Chief Whip, Mr. Lance Carberry met on Thursday afternoon to work on the agenda for the meeting yesterday morning between the President and the PNC/R leader. Unconfirmed reports indicated that the marathon meeting between Dr. Luncheon and Mr.Carberry lasted into the wee hours of yesterday morning.

President Jagdeo, speaking at the same ceremony, also described yesterday as "an historic day".

"This formal swearing in of the Commissioners of the Ethinic Relation Commission is a significant step for us as a people and country. It confirms our willingness to confront the old challenges of achieving harmonious ethnic and race relations in our society," the Guyanese Head of State told the audience in the Credentials Room of the Office of the President, which included Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran; Government and Opposition Members of Parliament; and members of the Diplomatic Community.

He added, "Today we inaugurate a golden opportunity to promote and foster better and more harmonious ethnic relations in the interest of all our peoples and our future. Our foreparents in their epic struggles recognised the importance of cohesiveness among the different groups as a necessary pre-condition for progress. They were unrelenting in the pursuit of this goal and have left us a foundation upon which to build. Unfortunately, the desired level of progress in fostering better ethnic and race relations has eluded us for many years."

President Jagdeo also contended that the problem of ethnic and race relations has been engendered by suspicion and feelings of insecurity.

In the past, there have been legal measures in place to forestall and mitigate issues of race and ethnic conflicts but none to cure the ill and rid us of this scourge, he posited.

According to him, the absence of a credible mechanism dedicated to addressing the issue of ethnic relations has not been helpful in tackling this challenge.

"All sections of society, indeed all Guyanese agree that unless we urgently, collectively, and innovatively resolve the issues of ethnic and race relations in the country, the full potential of this nation will not be realised," President Jagdeo asserted.

According to him, parties in the constitutional reform process formulated and agreed to the Constitutional Amendment that created the Ethnic Relations Commission as a Constitutional Body, entrusting that body with tasks, obligations, powers and responsibilities.

"Before us today are members and alternates nominated by Parliament as representatives of the religious communities, organised labour, children, youths and women in Guyana (and) as a stand alone Constitutional Body, this commission will be the sounding board of Guyana society, seeking to do all the things possible to establish and promote better ethnic relations in Guyana," the President said.

He noted that with a mandate and powers to investigate, and an obligation to report, this Commission will be an important element in our efforts in addressing issues concerning ethnicity in Guyana.

"Not only does this body have the powers to investigate and administer sanctions when necessary, more importantly, a key task will be utilising its formidable legal and moral authority for the promotion of better ethnic and race relations," the President said.

He said, too, that ethnic relations have an important place in the activities of those in the political and religious communities, which actually consist of workers, women, children, youths and indigenous people.

Mr. Jagdeo said the ERC also "holds forth a great promise and, in the context of the simultaneous operation of the Rights Commission, comes close to ensuring that our society would be more cohesive as social bonds are strengthened by the focus and attention of those Constitutional bodies".

However, he said laws and institutions are no substitute for the goodwill and kindness that dwell in the hearts of all our people.

"I wish to congratulate the Commissioners and their alternates and pledge that the PPP/C administration would exert maximum efforts and provide the fullest support to the Ethnic Relations Commission," the President added.

The newly elected Members (and their alternates) of the Ethnic Relations Commission who took the Oath of Office yesterday were Dr. Frank Anthony (member) and Dr. Rajendra Singh (alternate member) representing Youths; Mr. Andrew Garnett (member) and Mr. Carvil Duncan (alternate member) representing Labour; Mr. Norman McLean (member) and Mr. John Willems (alternate member) representing the Private Sector; Bishop Juan Edghill (member) representing the Christian community; Mr. R.K. Sharma (alternate member) representing the Hindu community and Ms. Cheryl Sampson (member) representing Women.

Speaking at the same ceremony, Mr. Corbin said it is "indeed a pleasure" to be able to congratulate the newly appointed members of the ERC. According to him, the Commission has "very important responsibilities to discharge in the interest of the development of Guyana and hopefully to make a meaning contribution towards the building of a cohesive society where we can live as one people, one nation with one destiny".

"It has been long in coming...and this is a historic day in the sense that it is the first significant step in the implementation of the constitutional arrangements (with regards the constitutional reform) and I am participating meaningfully in this exercise this morning because you may, or may not know, that only earlier this morning the process of 'Constructive Engagement' between the President and myself began," stated Mr. Corbin, who was elected as Opposition Leader later in the afternoon.

"...we've reached a point where, at least the constitutional issues which relate to the functioning of Parliament have been resolved," Mr. Corbin said.

He said this, however, is just the beginning since although the Ethnic Relations Commission has been appointed, it is now up to them to begin the work.

And for them to work efficiently, Mr. Corbin pointed out that there is still some work to be done, for instance, the Ethnic Relations Tribunal has to be set up in order that ERC's work can be meaningful.