The persons nominated by the various interests groups that by law must be represented on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) are to be sworn in on Friday by President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Jagdeo signed the law establishing the Commission in August 2000 and the body should have been in place before the March 19, 2001 elections. However, the letters to the interest groups inviting them to meet and select their nominees were not dispatched until March 2002.
The Commission’s purpose in part is to provide for equality of opportunity between persons of ethnic groups and to promote harmony and good relations between such persons; to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity; to investigate complaints of racial discrimination and make recommendations on the measures to be taken if such complaints are valid; and to promote equal access by persons of all ethnic groups to all public or other services and facilities provided by the government or other bodies.
The groups are the Christian, Hindu and Islamic religions, the labour movement, the private sector, women’s organisations and youth organisations.
The persons who have been nominated by a consensual mechanism and have been appointed by the Clerk of the National Assembly are Bishop Juan Edghill, Pandit Ramkissoon Maraj and Shahabudeen McDoom res-pectively from the Christian, Hindu and Moslem religions, Norman McLean (private sector), Dr Frank Anthony (youth organisations), Cheryl Sampson (women organisations) and Andrew Garnett (labour movement). A majority of them will be appointed for four years in the first instance and the rest will be appointed for three years, the normal term for members.
They will also be eligible for re-appointment at the expiration of their term if nominated by their organisations.
Their alternates, also selected by a consensual mechanism, are Pastor Roy Thakurdyal, Radha Krishna Sharma, Shafeek Khan, L John Willems AA, Dr Rajendra Singh, Leila Austin and Carvil Duncan.
When established, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous People’s Commission, the Rights of the Child Commi-ssion and the Human Rights Commission will each nominate one of their members to sit on the Commission.
These members will not have the right to vote (Article 212B(1) (b)) and their term of office will be determined by the commissions which nominated them (Article 212B (4)(b)). At their first meeting, the members will elect from among themselves a chairman and a vice-chairman and will discuss the structure of the Commission’s secretariat which would comprise its officers and employees. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who will be appointed by the Commission shall be the Secretary to the ERC. Besides the CEO, the Commission provides for the ERC to appoint such other officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions on such terms and conditions as the ERC determines. However, the National Assembly must approve the remuneration of the officers and employees appointed by the ERC.
The constitution also provides at Article 212C for the establishment of an Ethnic Relations Commission Tribunal, which would hear appeals from decisions of the Commission, including a right of appeal to the Court of Appeal on points of law (Article 212C(c))
The ERC as well as the other commissions represented on it were created by recent amendments to the Constitution.