CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM NEEDS POLITICAL CONSENSUS

A constitution defines the basic laws, structures for governance and rights and responsibilities under which a society is organized. A constitution needs to be changed when some or all of its rules no longer reflect the popular will or when they have been overtaken after the effluxion of time. Suggestions for reform of the constitution, […]

GUYANA’S POLITICAL DISTRESS

The notion in 1950 by the leaders of the PPP that freedom will bring justice has not materialized. We have won Independence and have shaken off authoritarian rule, but justice has not arrived. The rotation of political power between parties, supported mainly by our two major ethnic groups, has not fulfilled the dream of economic […]

SEIZE THE TIME!

As if the political controversies were not enough, the rains and inevitable floods brought more woes to the populace. But while the floodwaters and rain will slowly recede, giving way to spring harvesting, our political landscape remains stubbornly arid. The presidential letter has gone out but the opposition political parties remain adamant – no talks […]

TIME TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

The death penalty has not been carried out in Guyana since 1997. While it is true that there has been a large increase in murders since then, murders have equally soared in countries which have abolished the death penalty like South Africa as well as in countries which have not, like Jamaica and Trinidad and […]

SPOTLIGHT ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

I had the privilege of being interviewed on the SPOTLIGHT TV programme on Channel 9 in the distinguished company of Henry Jeffrey and Tacuma Ogunsaye, both knowledgeable and experienced observers of the political scene. We had all written recently on constitutional reform and the moderator, Dr. Brantley Walrond, felt that it was a topic of […]