I am shocked that the PNCR filed a court injunction against the ERC for carrying out its Constitutional mandate.
The ERC is a constitutional body established by constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act No. 11 of 2000 which amends article 212 D of the constitution to provide for the establishment of an Ethnic Relations Commission.
The genesis of the ERC lies in the Herdmanston Accord signed on January 17, 1998 that provided for the establishment of a Constitution Reform Commission (CRC). Among the matters to be addressed by the CRC were measures and arrangements for the improvement of race relations in Guyana including the contributions which equal opportunities legislation and concepts drawn from the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society, could contribute to the case of justice, equity and progress in Guyana.
The CRC in its report to the National Assembly on July 17, 1999, recommended that the constitution shall establish an adequately, funded suitable broad based Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) comprising representatives of religious bodies, the labour movement, the private business sector, youth and women.
The entities of each group identified one nominee and one substitute to serve as their representatives on the ERC and on March 8, 2002. The ERC was established to promote ethnic harmony and security in Guyana. Its functions which are set out in Article 212 D of the constitution are all embracing and are divided into 25 categories which can be further grouped as investigative, conflict resolution, education and public awareness and research and development strategies.
Since its establishment the ERC is fully committed to its constitutional mandate to promote Ethnic harmony and security in our country attracting large crowds to its many activities designed to create ethnic harmony in Guyana. At the upcoming general elections, the ERC will be monitoring the campaigning activities of all the political parties to ensure that ethnic harmony prevails before and after the elections. But the PNCR does not accept the constitutional mandate of the ERC and very recently claimed that the ERC is illegal and moved to the High Court where an injunction against the ERC was placed by the judge. But the judge who granted the injunction against the ERC should not have dealt with this matter that came before him since he was a former National Secretary of the Young Socialist Movement, the youth arm of the PNC whose name has now changed and a former PNC Member of Parliament. In this regard the judge must recuse himself from the ERC matter brought before him by the opposition leader Mr. Robert Corbin who is leader of the PNCR so as to protect his judicial dignity of not acting in favour of the political party he’s formerly associated with.