Jagdeo/Corbin meet
Teams working to clear last hurdles
Stabroek News
April 14, 2003
The teams arranging the agenda for the proposed meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNCR leader Robert Corbin expect to be able to overcome the remaining hurdles in the near future.
Stabroek News understands that two of the hurdles are the size of the parliamentary sector committees and the issue of the inquiry into the operations of the Police Force.
A number of proposals have been sent to the PNCR relating to these and other issues for its consideration. Deadlock remains on the issue of the ministers sitting on the committees but the government is willing to forego this if the opposition supports an amendment to increase the number of non-elected ministers. The constitution restricts the number of non-elected ministers to four but the government is looking to increase this number to ten. Alternatively, it would want the size of the committees reduced which the PNCR is willing to look at if the government revises its offer on this option. The number of members was originally set at eleven.
Stabroek News has also learnt that information is being provided about a number of decisions that were taken during the Jagdeo/Hoyte dialogue process. These relate to the recommendations in the reports of the joint committees on broadcasting, borders and national security, local government and the depressed communities. There are also some recommendations from the joint committee on housing and house lot distribution that are being looked at in the proposals.
The issue of the parliamentary sector committees could be settled as early as Thursday when the parliamentary Committee of Selection meets to approve nominations from the parties to the sector committees as well as to the committee on constitutional reform. The Committee of Selection has already approved the nominations for the Parliamentary Manage-ment Committee, the Committee of Appointment and the Committee for Constitutional Reform. The parliamentary standing committees are creations of recent constitutional amendments and the Parliamentary Management Committee is a recommendation in the St Lucia Statement agreed in 1998 by then President Janet Jagan and the late PNCR leader Desmond Hoyte.
