Guyana will remain stuck unless there is real Constitutional Reform
Political scientist, Dr. David Hinds thinks that no amount of oil money can save Guyana from its current trajectory. Dr. Hinds thinks that Constitutional Reform is imperative to the dismantling of racial divide which in turn is vital for progress in Guyana.
In airing his views, Dr. Hinds has added to the echoing call for constitutional reform. His voice is added to that of the United Kingdom, Carter Center, attorney-at law Nigel Hughes, and several other prominent names in the Guyanese society. In fact even the current government promised constitutional reform. But the progress along this line, to many, seems slow.Dr. Hinds said that a constitution ought to be a living document that is constantly adjusted to meet the social, political, economic and cultural realities of the society. He said that downplaying constitutional reform assumes that the society is stuck in time, that it is not dynamic. Dr. Hinds opined, “You don’t move from colonialism to freedom without constantly adjusting your constitutions to achieve the latter. It is a constant process in which you strengthen just laws, stamp out unjust ones and replace them with progressive ones.” The political scientist said that the proof of an effective constitution is its ability to guarantee political and social stability while protecting citizens from the wrath of institutional power and from their fellow citizens. He said, “A just constitution in our case must simultaneously guarantee rights and liberty to individuals and groups and promote democracy and ethnic equality.”
Dr. Hinds noted that Guyana was given a constitution at independence that in the final analysis enabled rather that contained our ethnic divide. “Were there good things in that independence constitution? Yes. But there were aspects of it that were invariably exploited by the political elites in their pursuit of normalizing an authoritarian state.” Hinds acknowledged the fact that the 1980 constitution enshrined rights that were not expressed in the independence constitution. He said however that it simultaneously strengthened the authoritarian state, “in particular the powers of the executive. It also continued to enable ethnic dominance by keeping in place the winner-take-all device.”
(Kaieteurnews.com)