The 20th Conference of Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers (CSPOC), of which Guyana was, until this conference, a member of the Standing Committee, was held appropriately in Delhi, India, the largest and one of the most enduring democracies in the world, between the 4th and 8th January, 2010.
The Conference brought together 50 Speakers and Presiding Officers from 42 Commonwealth Parliaments as well as 34 Speakers and presiding Officers of 34 State Legislatures in India. Also, 34 Clerks and Secretaries General attended and participated in the deliberations.

There is no training institute or organized training mechanism for Speakers and Presiding Officers. Even though most Speakers and presiding officers are experienced parliamentarians, presiding over parliament, one of the three independent branches of government in the Westminster system, can be a challenging task especially since the Standing Orders, key previous rulings and parliamentary practices have to be mastered from the first day. Most MPs, even those with great experience, traditionally pay little attention to the niceties of parliamentary procedure and so are thoroughly unprepared if elected Speaker. For the larger parliaments in developed countries with experienced clerks and huge, trained staff the burden may be lighter. But the challenges are enormous for smaller, less resourced parliaments like our own.

Continue reading “THE ROLE OF THE SPEAKER”

MAJOR STEPS FORWARD – MUCH MORE TO BE DONE

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The season of goodwill consists of Christmas and New Year. In Guyana, Guyanese of all religious persuasions seize the opportunity of participating in the delights that the season has to offer. They undertake religious activities at Christmas and enjoy the fanfare of welcoming the New Year. In this period Christians generally take the opportunity of reaffirming their faith, to give thanks and to celebrate the life and work of Jesus Christ.

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Our society places little value on human life.

The newspapers reported on November 17, 2009, that seven year prison sentences were imposed on two persons for manslaughter. Mahendra Singh lived in the same yard as his uncle, Ganesh Rai. He was drinking at Rai’s house. There was a mild altercation and Rai asked Singh to leave. Singh went to his house, got a cutlass and chopped his uncle to death. He was charged for murder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

Roxanne Daniels was at the home of her male companion. His estranged wife paid a visit to the home not knowing that Ms. Daniels was there. A fight ensued and the wife was stabbed to death. Roxanne Daniels was charged with murder but found guilty of manslaughter. She was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

Continue reading “LIGHT PRISON SENTENCES ARE NOTHING BUT A SCANDAL”

The article printed below is the first known political writing by Janet Jagan. It was written on September 2, 1942. Mrs. Jagan was 22 years old and a student of Cook County School of Nursing. It appeared to be a paper written as part of her studies. Janet Rosenberg, as her name was at that time, did not meet Cheddi until the following year but it can be seen that her political and social views, though still in their infancy, were highly advanced for a young white woman in the US in the 1940s. The article shows no Marxist leanings or typical Marxist language and phraseology. But Mrs. Jagan was clearly conscious of the economic and class basis for racial prejudice. Her obvious hostility to race discrimination was motivated by a political outlook that was both scientific and progressive. Some of the language, now regarded as unacceptable, was in common use at the time and did not have the same negative connotations as at present. Hereunder is Mrs. Jagan’s article. 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RACE PREJUDICE

Continue reading “JANET JAGAN ON RACE”