The PPP/C today accused the opposition of conspiring to strangle and end the work of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).
The ERC was one of the bodies whose budgetary allocation was cut by the opposition to $1 last month.
It has been argued by the opposition that the ERC as presently constituted is not legal and this is one of the reasons why its allocation was voted down.
Freedom House in a statement today reminded that the ERC is one of five constitutional rights commission that flowed from the constitutional reform process of the 1999-2003 period.
It said that the first members of the ERC were appointed in 2003 in compliance with the new constitutional provisions. This body with office and staff has been fully functioning and serving the Guyanese people from 2003 in accordance with their constitutional mandate, the statement declared.
Referring to the budget cut, the PPP/C said that the present action must be seen within the context of the previous attempts by the then People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) to “subvert the establishment of the ERC by not supporting a motion that had enjoyed the full support of the Committee of Appointments of which members of PNC/R were a part of and participated in drafting.”
This controversy related to the groups from which nominees to the ERC would be drawn. The PPP/C and the PNCR deadlocked over the role of the Inter-Religious Organisation which some in the opposition have labelled as a front organization for the government.
The Freedom House statement today noted that as a result of the impasse between the PPP/C and the PNCR “The Government members then tabled a motion which led to Resolution No. 36 on August 9, 2007 under the Ninth Parliament. That resolution stated the following:
· That the National Assembly takes note of this serious development
· That the house so informs the President of the Republic
· That this National Assembly calls on the President to take such steps so as to enable the Ethnic Relations Commission to continue to carry out its constitutional responsibilities in the interim.”
Following the passage of this resolution, then President Bharrat Jagdeo extended the tenure of the membership of the ERC. This is a key bone of contention for the opposition as they have argued that the President had no locus standi in this matter and his purported extension of the life of the body was null and void and put the ERC in legal limbo.
Referring to the impasse, the Freedom House statement said that “The Committee of Appointments chaired by the PPP/C was unable between 2007 and the end of the 9th Parliament to reach consensus with the PNCR on the list of entities to invite to submit their nominees for appointment to the ERC.
“This transpired after several meetings at the level of The Committee of Appointments, three tabled reports, one special report and four motions to the National Assembly.”
It also noted that in 2011, PNCR Leader Robert Corbin moved to the Courts to stop the work of the ERC by way of an ex-parte injunction which was dated and entered on June 1, 2011, mere months before November 28, 2011 General and Regional Elections. This matter was heard and discharged on November 22, 2011.
This third intervention – the budget cut – is the most sinister of all, the PPP/C charged.
“It is important to note that at no time at any of the eight meetings (April Budget 2012)/talks hosted by His Excellency, President Donald Ramotar, nor in the written submissions of the APNU nor in the discussions, was any issue or question raised with regard to the functioning of the ERC. In fact it was never mentioned. The AFC attended three of these eight meetings and they did not raise any matter surrounding the ERC.
“Even when Mr. Greenidge tabled the APNU motion to amend the budgetary allocations of the Minister of Finance could one tell which agency was being reduced or collapsed. It was only on the floor during the debate of the Estimates in the Committee of Supply on April 26th that the government and the public knew that the ERC was identified by them to be reduced to $1”, the statement added.
