ERC and W&GEC to be appointed soon; procedures moving apace for other commissions
Nominations for the constitution of the Ethnic Relations Commission and Women & Gender Equality Commission are expected to undergo review this month as plans move ahead on establishing the Rights of the Child and Indigenous Peoples’ Commissions.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira who also serves as chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Appointments, says nominations for the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and Women & Gender Equality Commission (W&GEC) will be submitted and reviewed in October.
“We had a committee of appointment sensitisation workshop with over 160 organisations that are on the list for both commissions here in which we gave them guidelines on what they are expected to do. They have to go through a process of consultation amongst themselves by the clusters. We will look at those nominees and I’m sure they’ll be no persons who have been charged with serious crimes and therefore we’ll have to go straight to the house to get the simple majority.”
Representatives of civil society organisations that were approved by the National Assembly to participate in the nominations and elections processes have already been placed into clusters and undergone guidance by members of the Committee on Appointments and the associated parliamentary clerks. They were also provided with deadlines for the various stages of the process.
Clusters are separated by youth, women, cultural, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, etc.
EQUAL Guyana is the only LGBTQ rights civil society organisation that was approved by a 2/3 majority in the National Assembly to participate in the nomination process for the Ethnic Relations Commission. They are represented in the youth cluster by Managing Director, Anil Persaud.
Minister Teixeira said the process to appoint commissioners to the two constitutional bodies integrally involves civil society was deliberate in constitutional reform as it is inclusive, transparent and consensus-oriented, and is a model of good governance.
She further stated that plans are moving ahead on the Rights of the Child Commission and Indigenous Peoples’ Commission as well.
“On the order paper from August 8 is the reports of the Rights of the Child Commission and in terms of list of entities for that commission. If that’s approved by two thirds when we come back in October, we’ll go through a similar process with the Rights of the Child. For Indigenous Peoples’ (Commission), once the NTC, now that they’ve had their executive conference and so on, once they send us their nominees, three as required by the constitution and the NGOs which are the Amerindian Organisations, send us their nominations we can move quickly on the IPC.”
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