Activity: Public lecture
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Friday 24th July, 2015
Moray House Trust invited three speakers to present their thoughts on the subject of constitutional reform in Guyana. The event was well attended and a lively discussion followed the presentations.
Dr Henry Jeffrey held several ministerial portfolios under the PPP administration. According to him, “Guyana has not fulfilled the dreams of those who struggled for independence from the British nor has it met the aspirations of succeeding generations. Guyanese have for some time been aware that their basic problem is the negative intermingling of race and politics.” Dr Jeffrey reasoned that the Westminster model of government is ill suited to the management of ‘deeply divided societies’ like ours.
Haslyn Parris, a former Chief Economist at the Central Bank and a deputy Prime Minister in the 1980s, also served as Co-ordinator of the Oversight Committee on Constitutional Reform from 1999 to 2000. Mr Parris highlighted the need to ensure adherence Article 119A of the Constitution which provides for a Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform.
Mr Parris also invoked the ideas of a quantum physicist, David Joseph Bohm, in calling attention to the need to distinguish between a problem and a paradox when approaching the Constitution.
Ralph Ramkarran, Speaker in the National Assembly for over a decade, spoke in
favour of reforms to ‘encourage formal or informal coalitions across the political divide.’ After the presentations, a member of the audience spoke of his experience of sitting on one of the Constitutional Commissions. Another suggested that the problem lies not with the Constitution but with the people of Guyana.
Video Clips
Highlights: a sample of comments from all three speakers.
You Tube: https://youtu.be/gbT-lL_Pwb8
Dr Henry Jeffrey:
You Tube: https://youtu.be/WjC-5eLgK8A
Haslyn Parris:
You Tube: https://youtu.be/D-U7LsgdAAc
Ralph Ramkarran:
You Tube: https://youtu.be/iT84hmeioLA