…PM says issue to be given greater priority

PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo has said that constitutional reform will be given greater priority following concerns expressed by various members of the society and the Alliance For Change (AFC) party.

On Saturday, the party hosted its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the Umana Yana, and the full national executive of the party attended. At the meeting, the leadership evaluated the party’s journey within the coalition over the last three and a half years and examined the path forward past the current political situation.
“It was a very important meeting of the AFC’s leadership,” the prime minister stated. “I was asked to give an analysis of the political situation and, of course, I tried as best as I could to look at the situation now from all angles.”

The party leaders reflected on the December 21, 2018 occurrence in the National Assembly, whereby former party member Charrandass Persaud voted against the government in a no-confidence motion. “We are of the view that we have entered into uncharted waters and we have the constitutional situation that presents us not only with challenges, but with opportunities and those opportunities are of a very wide nature. [Such as] how do we move forward? How do we take our country forward with constitutional arrangements that will make our democracy safe and strong,” he explained.

“We recognised that our entire democracy was held hostage by a single person. It brought into our mind some very serious dimensions that if you have a political system where you hold office by a razor-thin majority, then you could have domestic parliamentary terrorists who sit and wait for an ideal opportunity. You could have political mercenaries who, with one vote, can bring an entire parliament down.”

The prime minister said that such acts can be self-motivated or, worse, influenced by foreign powers, which is why in the last few weeks he has contemplated long and carefully on the matter.

After photos of his phone conversations reached the media, Persaud had admitted that just days before his “conscience vote” to side with the opposition, he had advanced discussions on the purchase of US$1M in gold.

“I have been internalising in the last weeks, in fact, many of us in the party’s leadership, that we have the constitutional framework that makes our democracy very fragile. And so, without prejudice to what is taking place in the courts, we have now felt impelled to look at our constitution,” he said.

Upon entering office, Nagamootoo immediately set up a steering committee which would provide advice and a report on the establishment of a Constitutional Reform Commission.
However, this reform requires the support of at least two-thirds of the House and while the government is willing, Nagamootoo says that the opposition has been ambivalent with the process.

Nonetheless, he stated that the occurrence within the National Assembly has brought to the fore the need for many issues within the constitution to be reviewed. This includes the question of whether dual citizens can serve as Members of Parliament, or whether they need to have a period of resident qualification.

While indicating that he is not directly making the specific proposal, Nagamootoo said that these are matters — now highlighted — which can be settled once and for all by the government and opposition.

“You may want to know in your constitution that it is absolutely clear; there must be no doubt; there must be no uncertainty,” he said. “We have an article in the constitution, Article 180, that says that you can remove the President, but it requires procedures that involve [a] two-thirds majority of the National Assembly and then, at another state, three-fourths of the members of the National Assembly to remove a president. But here you have another article in the constitution that says you could bring the President down and his entire government on a simple majority of one vote of one side against the other,” he stated. AFC leaders have agreed, that along with pertinent issues such as the management of Guyana’s oil resources, constitutional reform will be given the required priority.

Nagamootoo said: “I believe that the AFC leaders have been dealing with this issue and we have come forward with strong recommendations that we should have constitutional reform as being at the top of our agenda.”