W. H. Parris
Published: 2003
Total Pages: 201
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About the Book Constitution reform is currently a topic being discussed with great vibrancy in Guyana today. It is also attracting the attention of a number of foreign financial and diplomatic institutions, if only because of its pivotal nature in the matter of 'Governance' and its relationship with economic and social development. These discussions and interests are however inhibited by the absence of easily accessible information, in a single coherent document, that purports to show what the Constitution of Guyana would look like if the reforms stated in the report of the Constitution Reform Commission (July 17, 1999) were all to be implemented. This book, entitled "The Constitution of Guyana What will it Look Like ????" , attempts to fill that information void, by pulling together all the actual and proposed amendments deriving from the Constitution Reform Commission's report - all of that report's recommendations having been approved by Guyana's National Assembly. The book therefore provides a convenient basis for evaluating how adequately the proposed new paradigms of governance conceptually conform with the desideratum of "inclusive governance" in a milieu of democracy. The author, Haslyn Parris, enjoyed the unique privilege of having been the Secretary of the Constitution Reform Commission; and subsequently the Coordinator of the Oversight Committee which was mandated to translate the reforms into legislative amendments to the Constitution. In this latter capacity he worked intimately with the legal draftspersons who actually drafted the amendments for presentation to Guyana's National Assembly, and with the two main political parties in Guyana. All the amendments were unanimously approved by the National Assembly. The amendments to the Constitution are quite far reaching; and not a little interest is being generated in how the gap between enabling and mandatory legislation on the one hand, and actual implementation on the other is in fact being bridged - including one set of amendments on fundamental rights that were unanimously agreed to by the National Assembly but for which the President withheld his assent! For all interested in the matter of Governance in Guyana, this book should be a required reference. An equally important reference work by Haslyn Parris - An Annotated Handbook of the Constitution Reform Commission Report - is currently in the process of publication. March, 2003.
