Dear Editor,
I purposefully chose to refrain from espousing my views on the missteps, irrationalities and asininities of our politicians from both sides of the divide. I sincerely thank Stabroek News for being true democrats and patriots in consistently speaking truth to power by pleading, critiquing and sometimes even cajoling our politicians to not only act democratically, but to do what they have been elected to do. That is serve the best interest of ALL the citizens of Guyana the way they ought to, with transparency, integrity and humility.
However, even the most optimistic part of my being wonders if Guyana is seemingly doomed to mediocrity, corruption and backwardness. But, as they say, hope reigns eternal and since we are stuck with the same uncaring and arrogant players, we have no choice but to change the rules of the game. So here goes. Let’s address the 800 pound gorilla in the room. And that is the 1980 Burnham Constitution. Any sane person can see the dastardly machinations that led to this perversity was created by a dictator and for a dictator. Should we be surprised that those who have shown great reluctance to ridding us of this monstrosity, has shown enduring authoritarian tendencies?
Every administration from Jagan to the present, have vehemently criticized it when they were in Opposition, but resisted change once they accede power. I am therefore imploring you to give me the opportunity to give my personal suggestion of 10 things that should serve as starting points or at least be included in such reforms. Thanks in advance for your kind cooperation.
1) GUYANA ELECTIONS COMMISSION (GECOM). It is a given that free and fair Election is the most integral part of democracy, and the first step to protecting the sanctity of said elections is for the oversight body to be as impartial as humanly possible. It is foolhardy to have a Commission comprised of political partisans and expect it to function efficiently.
Therefore, to foster such independence it should be made up mostly of persons that can be reasonably perceived as not being there to solely protect the interests of their party, or those that has nominated them to sit on the Commission to give them an inside advantage to the functionality of the oversight process.
I would therefore suggest that there be a six member board made up of as follows: One member from a civil society organization such as the Guyana Human Rights Association; one representative from our religious bodies to be rotated amongst the major religions; a nominee from The Guyana Bar association to assist when it pertains to legal matters; another should come from the Private Sector Commission, and last, but not least, one each from each of the largest representative parties in Parliament. Once the Elections Commission has been seated they would then have the responsibility to hire someone preferably with a Legal or Accounting background to be the de facto head of the Commission. May I interject here that all of the above are only my suggested starting point for reform and I would default to more talented and legal minds to come up with a workable solution which will hopefully immunize us from a reoccurrence of the unhealthy and embarrassing fiasco of 2020.
2) FIRST-PAST-THE-POST to a CONSTITUENCY SYSTEM: The current system is an anachronism foisted on us by the powers that be for their own comfort and perceived benefit, and its innate flaws have acted as a hindrance to genuine democracy. The benefit of a constituency system is that our elected representatives will be beholden only to their local voters and not carrying out their mandate efficiently would be to their personal detriment’ as the interests of voters would take precedence over party affiliation.
To have an effective system, districts will have to be drawn to give equal numerical weight to each district and having been elected to parliament, then and only then, will party affiliation take precedence. At the time National Elections are taking place, voters will have the opportunity to choose their Presidential preference to ensure genuine separation between the Executive and the Legislative branches of Government.
It is an obvious conflict of interest if the Executive arm is sitting in parliament to make laws and financial decisions that they in fact have to implement and oversee. Laws should be made in Parliament and then submitted to the President for approval. The President shall have veto power over all laws unless said law is passed by more than two thirds of the Legislature.
3) SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT: The Three arms of Government should be the Executive; the Legislative; and Judiciary. The Executive will be made up of the President who will select his Cabinet to implement his policy agenda. No member of the cabinet shall sit in parliament or have oversite over decisions made by the legislature. Such decision will include budgetary allocations for various ministries, financial accountability on spending and approval of major contracts and policy decisions made by the Executive.
To ensure that there is compromise in the decision making process, all legislation shall have to be passed with a final vote of at least sixty percent of the Legislature. Parliament should have the authority to allocate resources to Local Government institutions such as Town Councils and Local Development Councils base on proportionality of the electorate. The final branch of Government which is the Judiciary must not be selected at the behest of either of the other branches of Government. An independent functioning Judiciary Service Commission should be responsible for the Appointment of The Chancellor, Chief Justice and other member of the Judiciary with no requisite input from the Executive or the Legislature.
Executive overreach makes it possible for the extensive and prolonged non conformation of both a Chancellor and Chief Justice. Logic would suggest that if your job is dependent on the whims and fancies of the President, one might lose their impartiality if your confirmation could be in jeopardy if you are seen as not in line with the Executive Agenda.
Editor, this is the first part of my 10 suggestions for Constitutional Reform. In my next letter I will make some suggestions about Federalism, State Media and affirmative action for our Indigenous Peoples.
Sincerely,
Keith Francis
Jacksonville
Florida
