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Guyanese will be involved in constitutional reform – Ali

November 12, 2019

Contending that constitutional reform is not a one-man show or a “room party”, Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Irfaan Ali said that this process must be led by and in the interest of the Guyanese people.

PPP Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali

Speaking on a local radio programme “The Political Show” recently, Dr Ali said he supports the continuous relooking of the country’s Constitution.
“We are in for continuous [constitutional] reform but it must originate from the people. It must be done through a consultative mechanism where the people are involved, where the people have a say because ultimately, the Constitution is a reflection of the will of the people” he posited.
According to Ali, there are many areas that need to be relooked at, some of which will be outlined in the party’s 2020 elections manifesto. However, he noted too that the issues must come from the people and not be prejudiced or imposed upon them.
“The Government must not imposed on the people, this is what we want and out of the Constitution reform you might find that people want referendum on certain or particular issues. But we’re willing enough to go the step further and this is the type of constitutional reform that will be meaningful for our country and people,” the PPP Presidential Candidate stated.
Over the past few years, constitutional reform has been before a parliamentary committee.
There is a Constitutional Reform Commission bill that was to be examined by the committee. But there have been accusations made of members of the committee stalling the process.
Constitutional reform was one of the main promises that the APNU/AFC coalition campaigned on at 2015 Elections. However, the Administration has been heavily criticised for not delivering the reforms, which was a top priority in its manifesto.
But at a press conference last month, Executive Member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party in the APNU fraction of the coalition Government, retired Rear Admiral Gary Best sought to deflect the blame for Government’s failure to fulfill its promise, saying that it cannot be done alone.
“We had to get at least two-thirds of the Members [of the National Assembly] to vote for the many clauses and articles that are now in the Constitution. So constitutional reform is not an activity for the party in power, it’s an activity for all the parties in power, and parties that seek to have power… It can’t be done without the cooperation of the other Members of Parliament which are from the PPP [People’s Progressive Party]. So that’s one of the issues with constitutional reform. It has to be a national effort,” he asserted.
Further questioned as to what was done by the coalition to reach out to the parliamentary Opposition to advance the process of constitutional reform, the PNCR Executive contended that there was always an open door policy for discussions on the matter.
In fact, he went on to say that the Opposition had opportunities to bring up the topic, which the coalition had campaigned heavily on. Nevertheless, the PNCR Executive posited that the coalition is still committed to constitutional reform.
“I believe there’s sufficient goodwill on the part of the His Excellency. Maybe we need more time and in the new term of the coalition there will be more willingness on the party of to sit and meaningfully discuss,” he stressed.
With criticisms abounding about the slow pace of constitutional reform, British High Commissioner Gregory Quinn earlier this year had underscored the need for a collaborative and consultative approach.
“We’ve been talking about constitutional reform. In 2016 we funded a project with the Carter Center, which launched a discussion on constitutional reform. Ultimately constitutional reform has to be a Guyanese-led process. There are a lot of people who recognise work must be done on the Constitution.”
“It’s now over to the political parties to decide what needs to be done to move the process forward, if that’s what they want to do… because it has to be a consultative process. Changing the Constitution takes two-thirds of the 65 seats in Parliament. So it’s not like one party or another can direct. So they need to decide how to move that forward, if they want to move it forward.”

https://guyanatimesgy.com/guya...tutional-reform-ali/

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Former Member

Tell dem deh Doctor !

11/12/1911:06 AM

cainTired old hippie

Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution

11/12/1911:12 AM

NehruBig Mouth Member

Dat is the man to make Guyana sweet laka Sumutoo AGAIN!! Chase the FILTH out!!!

11/12/1911:14 AM

Former Member

@Cain

And the AFC PNC made constitutional reform as a top priority in their election manifesto and conned people like you by doing Nothing !

Hey hey hey

11/12/1911:15 AM

Former Member

Nehru posted:
Dat is the man to make Guyana sweet laka Sumutoo AGAIN!! Chase the FILTH out!!!

Dem hiding from the Guyanese voters and planning on rigging but that will not help them. AFC PNC will be kicked out of office. This illegal and racist AFC PNC administration must go !

11/12/1911:16 AM

NehruBig Mouth Member

Sean posted:
@Cain
And the AFC PNC made constitutional reform as a top priority in their election manifesto and conned people like you by doing Nothing !
Hey hey hey

Dem seh who STUPID done STUPID

11/12/1911:16 AM

Former Member

cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution

Your people the PNC had 28 years plus 5 more and they shit on the constitution. Don't throw your shit on the PPP; blame the PNC too for blaming the process and doing nothing.

11/12/1911:17 AM

Former Member

@ Nehru Bhai

Dem like mad bill, halla like a cat !

11/12/1911:17 AM

Former Member

skeldon_man posted:
cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution
Your people the PNC had 28 years plus 5 more and they shit on the constitution. Don't throw your shit on the PPP; blame the PNC too for blaming the process and doing nothing.

The shameless PNC disregarded the CCJ, the highest court for Guyana. The illegal AFC PNC must go !!!!!

11/12/1911:19 AM

Former Member

Sean posted:
skeldon_man posted:
cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution
Your people the PNC had 28 years plus 5 more and they shit on the constitution. Don't throw your shit on the PPP; blame the PNC too for blaming the process and doing nothing.
The shameless PNC disregarded the CCJ, the highest court for Guyana. The illegal AFC PNC must go !!!!!

These negro bullies believe they still live in Africa. They will support a Mugabe wanna be.

11/12/1911:20 AM

cainTired old hippie

What a bunch of dumb asses. That is the PNC constitution, the PPP could have changed it but were satisfied with it. Now they are saying anything possible for votes.

11/12/1911:23 AM

cainTired old hippie

skeldon_man posted:
Sean posted:
skeldon_man posted:
cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution
Your people the PNC had 28 years plus 5 more and they shit on the constitution. Don't throw your shit on the PPP; blame the PNC too for blaming the process and doing nothing.
The shameless PNC disregarded the CCJ, the highest court for Guyana. The illegal AFC PNC must go !!!!!
These negro bullies believe they still live in Africa. They will support a Mugabe wanna be.

Dam dude, you come across real stupid with this sort of post. Have you noticed any of the black posters here make such remarks as you guys do, you especially?

Perhaps warrior was correct in saying you does go hunt for cabbage.

11/12/1911:26 AM

Former Member

cain posted:
What a bunch of dumb asses. That is the PNC constitution, the PPP could have changed it but were satisfied with it. Now they are saying anything possible for votes.

Your fried brain fails to comprehend. What is the purpose of a constitution when the PNC runs Guyana like a dictatorship, ignoring the simple laws of the judiciary? They refuse to give up power staying in power behind the strength of the negro army and the negro police force.

11/12/1911:28 AM

NehruBig Mouth Member

Some people love when Animals roaming the Jungle

11/12/1911:28 AM

Former Member

cain posted:
skeldon_man posted:
Sean posted:
skeldon_man posted:
cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution
Your people the PNC had 28 years plus 5 more and they shit on the constitution. Don't throw your shit on the PPP; blame the PNC too for blaming the process and doing nothing.
The shameless PNC disregarded the CCJ, the highest court for Guyana. The illegal AFC PNC must go !!!!!
These negro bullies believe they still live in Africa. They will support a Mugabe wanna be.
Dam dude, you come across real stupid with this sort of post. Have you noticed any of the black posters here make such remarks as you guys do, you especially?
Perhaps warrior was correct in saying you does go hunt for cabbage.

That doesn't mean they don't think that way.

11/12/1911:29 AM

cainTired old hippie

skeldon_man posted:
cain posted:
What a bunch of dumb asses. That is the PNC constitution, the PPP could have changed it but were satisfied with it. Now they are saying anything possible for votes.

Your fried brain fails to comprehend. What is the purpose of a constitution when the PNC runs Guyana like a dictatorship, ignoring the simple laws of the judiciary? They refuse to give up power staying in power behind the strength of the negro army and the negro police force.

Idiot_man, what does the nonsense you mentioned have to do with what I said? Was PNC running the show when PPP were in govt?

11/12/191:22 PM

Former Member

All dis time I thought was Jamaicans and Trini involved in Guyana's constitution reform

Thanks for letting me know is Guyanese

11/12/192:34 PM

NehruBig Mouth Member

Constitution means nothing to GADAHA so what is reform going to do. The CCj the World Court can rule against the GADAHA what is going to be the FRIGGIN difference?? PIGS will always eat SHIT!!!!!!

11/12/192:44 PM

Former Member

cain posted:
Moot point. They had 20+ years to reform the constitution

Better late than never. If a woman is 9 months pregnant or past term, the baby will still emerge. The important thing here is that Dr Irfaan Ali (no gynecologist) recognizes that constitutional reform is past term. The question is how to perform the operation. 😊

11/12/193:11 PM

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Guyanese will be involved in constitutional reform – Ali

Contending that constitutional reform is not a one-man show or a “room party”, Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Irfaan Ali said that this process must be led by and in the interest of the Guyanese people.

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