Parliament approves Ethnic Relations Commission motion Stabroek News December 12, 2000 In a sitting lasting just over an hour the National Assembly yesterday approved unanimously a motion which would set up the Ethnic Relations Commission and named the groups of organisations that would be represented on it. It also unanimously approved the second reading of the Ethnic Relations Commission Tribunal but deferred the third reading to Friday to allow Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Reepu Daman Persaud, the mover of the bill to ascertain if a mistake had been made in involving the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the appointment of the two lay members of the committee at Clause 3(b). Clause 3(4) provides for the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission to remove from office any member of the tribunal for inability to perform the functions of office. The grounds on which a member of the tribunal could be removed under this provision were infirmity of mind and body, misbehaviour and employment or interest incompatible with the functions of the tribunal. The explanatory memorandum also states: "every appeal shall be heard by the chairman and two members appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission." In approving the motion on the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Assembly accepted the addition of the Guyana United Apostolic Mystical Council and the Jewish Orthodox (Apostolic Faith) Church to the religious bodies which will participate in the selection of representatives of the Christian faith. The additional names were proposed by PNC backbencher, Dr Dalgleish Joseph after representations were made to him by the two bodies. Persaud, who moved the bill, said he did so in a spirit of compromise but noted too that the bill needed a two-thirds majority to give it effect. Other amendments accepted by the assembly were those proposed by Alliance for Guyana parliamentarian, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine which authorised the Clerk of the National Assembly immediately upon the passage of motion to write to all the entities in each grouping inviting them to meet at a date, time and place of their convenience to elect their nominees and to set a deadline by which time the various groupings are required to inform him of their nominees. In moving the motion to set up the Ethnic Relations Commission, Persaud said that it had the agreement of all the parliamentary parties. PNC front bencher Lance Carberry assured the government benches of his party's support for the motion but bemoaned the fact that the motion was coming three months after the bill to establish the commission was assented to. He stressed that there could be no further delay in getting the other measures to be enacted so that the commission could be operational before the upcoming elections. Carberry stressed the necessity for all the required constitutional amendments to be made so that the elections could be held under a reformed constitution as required by the Herdmanston Accord. In this regard he noted that the amendment to the Representation of the People's Act had been agreed by all the parties and should be tabled as quickly as possible. Dr Roopnaraine supported Carberry's call for the tabling of the other amendments to the constitution in his presentation during which he proposed the amendments mentioned above. Persaud, when responding, said that the amendment which would make it an offence to incite racial hatred and/or violence would be tabled on Friday. The other speaker on the motion was Robeson Benn, who was making his maiden presentation in the House. His presentation was more relevant to the discussion which followed on the Ethnic Relations Commission Tribunal. However, as is the custom, the Assembly listened with rapt attention without interrupting to point out his error as he often referred to the bill rather than the motion. The thrust of Benn's presentation was that the establishment of the commission was an indication of the changing paradigm of relations in which no one grouping sought to dominate another. Benn stressed that it was no longer sufficient to applaud affirmative type actions in other societies without ensuring there were such mechanisms in our own society. In his presentation, Dr Roopnaraine pointed to the conflict between Clause 3(b) and 3(4) and said that he did not understand how the PSC came to be mentioned in the appointment process. He said that there was no intention to reinstate the powers of appointment of the PSC in appointing judicial officers. He noted that the Oversight Committee had removed the involvement of the PSC in the appointment of the Supreme Court Registrar and as such that body should not be involved in the appointment of the registrar of the Tribunal. The United Force parliamentarian, who also supported the bill suggested that the Third Reading should be deferred to Friday so that the question of the PSC's involvement in the appointment of the two members of the Tribunal could be ascertained. Persaud agreed to this proposal. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today