President David Granger’s address to the National Assembly on Thursday completely omitted any reference to the governing coalition’s manifesto promise of constitutional reform, and former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran says the AFC has the power to get this commitment fulfilled by going as far as leaving the government benches.
Writing in his weekly ‘The Conversation Tree’ column in the Sunday Stabroek, Ramkarran observed that in his speech on Thursday, Granger did not mention constitutional reform. The former Speaker said that since a budgetary provision was made, the Guyanese people were entitled to be told what legislative initiatives to expect from the Government but the public is constantly being “teased” by the Government.
“A committee was appointed to advise the Government on the process it should follow. The report was never published….Last year’s budget provided several million dollars for constitutional reform but nothing has happened. What the President did not say in his address to the National Assembly, or in previous addresses, is whether his Government will fulfil its promise on constitutional reform to the Guyanese people. It still has time to complete the process,” Ramkarran wrote.
