BRITISH High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, believes that there is enough scope for the acceleration of the constitutional reform process which has been embarked upon here.

The high commissioner shared this view during a press conference at his Bel Air Gardens residence on Thursday.

The government, while in Opposition, had made a commitment to ensure constitutional reform is examined should they be elected to office.

Having won the elections, the coalition has since tabled draft legislation in the National Assembly establishing a 15-member “constitutional reform consultative commission.”

The act seeks to establish a Constitutional Reform Consultative Commission to assist the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform in its work by conducting public consultations with and receiving submission from Guyanese for the Committee.

One hundred rounds of consultations are expected to be held across the country.
However, even as these efforts are ongoing, criticisms have emerged from sections of society regarding the speed at which these are being executed.

Quinn shared with reporters that at this point in time, he “would have liked to see more happen by now”.

According to him, people are frustrated by the lack of speed. However, he believes that the delay in the process is not because of one individual or one group; but rather it should be a shared responsibility.

He added too that “If enough people say it [Constitutional reform] is important enough, then it will happen.”

Quinn shared too that: “there is always scope for more speed” given the fact that people he engages – non-governmental organisations and ordinary Guyanese – have agreed that there is a need for reform, although they differ on where reform is needed.

Just last month an advocacy movement called Reform-Inspire-Sustain-Educate (RISE), shared its plans to “pressure” the authorities into undertaking constitutional reform more serious.

The group believes that the reform process is being foot-dragged by successive governments, and according to its principals, the process, if implemented, would lead to executive accountability, racial harmony and political, economic and social inclusivity.

With the populace being the beneficiaries of such an undertaking, the British high commissioner is also of the view that the process needs to be a Guyanese-led one.

“Our position is that Constitutional Reform needs to be a Guyanese-led process but certainly we encourage everybody across the political divide to engage the process and we hope there would be some good progress going forward,” he told reporters.

Despite this slothfulness, the British high commissioner said his office is continuing in its efforts to encourage the speeding up of this process.