A stalemate between the governing party and the main opposition over the Inter-Religious Organisations (IRO) could soon be resolved, paving the way for the establishment of four long-delayed constitutional rights commissions and new appointments to the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).
The PPP/C and the PNCR-1G have disagreed on whether the IRO should be one of more than 150 civil society groups to be consulted at the parliamentary level by a consensual mechanism on nominations to the Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples’, Women and Gender Equality and the Rights of the Child commissions. The impasse has also held up new appointments to the ERC, which continues to function in the interim as a result of an intervention by President Bharrat Jagdeo.
However, Stabroek News has been told that with the recent appointment of women’s organisation representative Cheryl Sampson as a PNCR-1G parliamentarian, only three commissioners remain on the ERC, effectively hindering its operations. As a result, ERC Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill is said to have indicated to the government party that it should relent on the issue in order to remove objections by the PNCR that could prevent the process from moving forward.
At the level of the National Assembly’s Committee of Appointments, the PNCR-1G has raised formally objected to the IRO on the grounds that it is an umbrella body which represented other religious bodies already listed to be consulted. When asked, PNCR Executive Lance Carberry told Stabroek News that the party does not view the IRO as a legitimate body, while noting that its members have already been consulted by virtue of their representation on other entities. “We will continue to object to it,” he said. “Our objection is principled and has been well articulated in our statements to the press.”
At the level of the Committee of Appointments, the PPP/C urged for the IRO’s inclusion substantively under a grouping of “Other Religious Bodies” to facilitate the IRO and five religious bodies that do not fall within the Christian, Hindu and Muslim religions. The PNCR-1G, however, argued that the groupings for religious bodies should not be increased without giving consideration to increasing representatives for the non-religious groupings. Consequently, the party said, the original schedule of groups to be consulted should be maintained, while the IRO and the five organisations of other religious persuasion should be deleted from the list of entities under consideration.
Meanwhile, the AFC, in order to move the process forward, urged the removal of the “Other Religious Bodies” grouping along with the IRO and affiliated organisations. The PPP/C, however, did not agree with the proposal, objecting on the grounds that it was exclusionary and it continued to press for the inclusion of the IRO.
The establishment of the rights commissions was among the recommendations out of the Constitutional Reform Process, dating back almost a decade. However, attempts to set up the bodies, which are responsible for promoting and enhancing fundamental Rights. The mandate to set up the rights commission was renewed last March by the National Stakeholder’s Forum, which had set a 90-day time frame for the appointments. The deadline was not met.
