ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has announced that amendments have been made to the draft bill governing the Constitutional Reform Commission to reflect the new parliamentary configuration following the recent elections.
Speaking recently, Nandlall explained that the commission’s work had been temporarily paused during the elections period but will resume soon.
He said: “Another issue that has raised some public concern is the Constitutional Reform Commission. Now the Constitutional Reform Commission, as all of you, we know, consists of 10 members of the government and the parliamentary opposition in the National Assembly; five from the government and five from… the opposition.”
“A decision was taken unanimously that the commission will not stop its work because it has a full-time chairman, but members will be excused who have political commitments.”
Providing further clarity, he said: “That is 50 per cent right away of the commission, and that decision was taken unanimously by members of the commission.”
Nandlall pointed out that it was impractical for politically active members to continue attending meetings during the campaign period.
“How can you sit when you have political responsibilities on a daily basis, a nightly basis, that take you away from Georgetown invariably, and take you into different parts of the country, which make it impossible for you to meet and do anything constructive,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, he explained that the current challenge stems from changes in the parliamentary composition since the act was originally passed.
“The act was drafted for that particular parliamentary configuration that existed at the time, and that act was passed unanimously, and it was the product of a select committee,” Nandlall stated.
At that time, he added, “We named the political party, and now you have a different configuration, which [is] in keeping with the spirit of the act… we wanted five members of the government and five from the opposition.”
As a result, adjustments were made to the draft bill to ensure that the new composition would be consistent with the principles of balance and representation that guided the original legislation.
“Adjustments have already been made to a draft bill, and as soon as Parliament resumes, of course, it has to receive the imprimatur of Cabinet… that bill will have to be considered by the National Assembly,” Nandlall stated.
To this end, he added that one member of the commission has since stepped down. “I see one member of the commission has already resigned following the same trend of thought that I have expressed here,” he noted.
