20-member Constitutional Reform Commission to be sworn in next month – AG

President Dr Irfaan Ali will be swearing in the 20-member Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) in March following the submission of all the nominees last week.
This was revealed by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, during his weekly programme – Issues in the News.
The 20-member Constitutional Reform Commission has to be drawn from political parties (five from the ruling party, four from the main Opposition and one from the Joinder Parties), while the 10 remaining persons will be drawn from religious groupings, the Private Sector, the Guyana Bar Association, the National Toshaos Council, the labour movement, women’s organisations as well as nominees representing farmers and youths.
Two weeks ago, the main political parties revealed their nominees to sit on the highly-anticipated Commission.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, disclosed that they have nominated AG Nandlall; Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira; Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony; Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai; and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, to be Government’s representatives on the Commission.
Similarly, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, also revealed the nominees named by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition to sit on the Commission. They are Opposition Commissioner at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander; Economist Sherwood Lowe; Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Ganesh Mahipaul and Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes.
In addition, the Joinder Parties – A New and United Guyana (ANUG); the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and The New Movement (TNM) – which hold one seat in Parliament have also submitted their nominee to the Government in the person of ANUG’s General Secretary, Timothy Jonas, SC.
During his programme, AG Nandlall disclosed the remaining 10 names nominated by civil society bodies.
These are Attorney Kamal Ramkarran from the Guyana Bar Association; Aslim Singh from the Labour Movement; Derrick John from the National Toshao Council; Ramesh Persaud from the Private Sector; Attorney Kim Kyte-Thomas from the Women organisations; Dr Josh Kanhai from the Youth organisations; Attorney Keoma Griffith from the Christian organisations; Imran Ally from the Muslim organisations; Radha Krishna Sharma from the Hindu organisations; and Attorney Adrian Anamayah as the farmers’ representative.
According to AG Nandlall, these persons were selected following consultants by the various civil society bodies that they will be represented on the Commission.
“These persons would be sworn in by His Excellency, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, in March and they would formally begin the business of the Constitutional Reform in the manner provided for and contemplated by the legislation,” the minister noted.
Constitutional reform was promised in the PPP/C Manifesto in 2020, where it was further outlined that consultation with the populace and important stakeholders, and a broad-based Constitutional Reform Commission would drive the process.

The way was paved for the establishment of the Reform Commission, and the commencement of the reform process following the passage of the Constitutional Reform Commission Bill in the National Assembly in November 2022. Back in August of 2022, the Government presented the Constitutional Reform Commission Bill 2022 in the National Assembly. That Bill sought the establishment of a 20-member Commission to review the country’s supreme laws.
The government had previously said that this would not be a politically-dominated Commission but one that is comprised of half politicians and half civil society representatives, and their work will be driven by public consultation.
Nandlall said last week that the PPP/C’s diverse set of nominations for the CRC demonstrates that it is the only national party in the country.
“We have an ethnic mix. So, we have two Indo-Guyanese, we have an Afro-Guyanese, we have an Amerindian and we have a Portuguese. We have two women and three men… Look at the main Opposition, no gender and no ethnic balance,” the minister stated.
Meanwhile, once the long-awaited Constitutional Reform Commission is in place, a comprehensive consultation process is expected to begin with citizens on critical laws that need to be reformed.
According to the provisions of the CRC Bill, the Commission will review the Constitution to provide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities and obligations of the Guyanese people. It is mandated for that purpose to receive, consider, and evaluate submissions for the alteration of the Constitution, and report its recommendations to the standing committee for transmission to the National Assembly.
The Commission is tasked with consultations for the reform process to continue, whereby a report will be prepared and sent to the standing committee. The committee will then refine the submissions into amendments for the National Assembly.
Last year, the Government earmarked the sum of $150 million in the 2023 National Budget for constitutional reform activities.
This year, additional monies have been allocated towards the establishment of the CRC, including the rental of a building to house the Commission. During the Consideration of the Budget 2024 Estimates last month, AG Nandlall disclosed that the Government had identified the building on Middle Street, Georgetown that was used for the conduct of several Commissions of Inquiry, as the office for the CRC. He noted that the building is already furnished and ready for occupation. (G-8)