With President Irfaan Ali expressing the need for constitutional reform following the 2020 March Election, International Republican Institute (IRI) has expressed interest in working with the Guyana Government in the process.
The need for constitutional reform was noted during a meeting with the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall. Nandlall met with Resident Programme Director of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Dorota Ryzy, and Local Programme Coordinator, Sara Bharrat at the AG’s Chambers.
In a statement from the AG’s Chambers, the electoral and constitutional reform was the highlight of the discussion. The Attorney General spearheads the talks on constitutional reform for the Government.
IRI expressed its commitment to work with the government and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), to make these reforms a reality.
This will be done according to the representative of IRI by working with the Canadian High Commission as well as the Indian High Commission, both of whom have already pledged assistance to Guyana in this endeavor.
They will coordinate with those offices to avoid duplication and to ensure the best use of the resources are available.
IRI Representative, Ms. Ryzy, said that support is coming from the Government of the United States of America, represented by the US Embassy in Georgetown. IRI will be coordinating and implementing the programme.
She added that assistance will come mainly in the form of expertise who will be attached to the Constitutional Reform process at the level of the Parliament, at the level of the Attorney General Chambers to aid in the electoral reforms, as well as at the Guyana Elections Commission.
The Attorney General expressed deep gratitude for the assistance offered and stressed the importance of strengthening Guyana’s constitutional framework, electoral laws, and indeed the entire electoral machinery, in order to protect democracy in Guyana, from being undermined and penetrated by fraud.
“I feel compelled to emphasize that these matters are among the government’s highest priority. They are vital to good governance, public order, and national development. Therefore, time is of the essence. These reforms are intricately tied to Guyana’s electoral cycle and as a result, the assistance offered must manifest itself swiftly” the Attorney General maintained.
IRI is the premier international democracy-development organization. Its nonpartisan, nongovernmental Institute has performed high-impact work in more than 100 countries since 1983—in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa—and currently has offices in 40 countries worldwide.
During and after the last election several bodies, including the European observer’s mission, maintained that the laws of the election are very wide, and do not provide a clear path. The laws should be taken into consideration when going ahead to the next election.
Since then-President Ali has expressed the need for electoral reform but had not so far given a definite date for the start of the process.
