Dear Editor,
I write to express my full agreement with the powerful and incisive letter by Ms. Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, regarding the non-constitution of the Human Rights Commission under the Irfaan Ali Government.
Her critique accurately identifies a profound failure in governance. The attempt by Minister Madam Gail Teixeira to deflect this constitutional imperative by highlighting educational initiatives is precisely the kind of duplicitous and insincere maneuvering that erodes public trust. It is unacceptable to parade as a champion of democracy, good governance, and human rights while simultaneously side-stepping the foundational legal mechanisms designed to protect those very principles.
A workshop or a public awareness campaign cannot replace a functional constitutional mandated Human Rights Commission. A seminar cannot adjudicate grievances or hold state actors accountable. These are the functions of a fully constituted, independent Human Rights Commission—a body that is not a mere suggestion but a constitutional mandate, which obvious Madam Teixeira and her friends in the PPP are determined to undermine.
The government’s refusal to complete the straightforward process of establishing this Commission, compounded by the obstruction in electing a Leader of the Opposition which is crucial to the appointment, reveals a glaring discrimination by the PPP against the people, in its respect for the Constitution. This is not governance; it is political theater designed to create an illusion of action where none exists, similar to the Tiger Bag gimmick. This Irfaan Ali Government and its players like Madam Gail Teixeira are actively violating the Guyana Constitution. But we, the Guyanese people, see through them and their antics.
When the PPP/C was in opposition, the then Opposition Leader, Mr. Jagdeo, was a vocal critic of the then-APNU+AFC government for its failure to establish the Human Rights Commission and quite rightly so. Mr. Jagdeo lambasted the Granger administration for its inactivity on the establishment of constitutional commissions, including the Human Rights Commission and he labeled such inactivity in a speech in 2017, as a “central failure of governance and a betrayal of the constitutional reforms of 2000-2001”.
In a statement in Parliament, Mr. Jagdeo argued that the absence of these constitutional commissions “were part of a deliberate pattern to concentrate power in the executive and undermine democratic institutions”. Mr. Jagdeo as the then Leader of the Opposition would publicly ask, “Why has the government not established the Human Rights Commission?” and accuse them of having a poor human rights record that they wanted to hide from scrutiny. So who is hiding today, Madam Gail Teixeira?
In essence, while in opposition, Jagdeo’s position was clear: the constitution is supreme, the government is in violation, and its failure to act is a sign of authoritarian tendencies and disrespect for the rule of law. But today the red canary is singing a different tune. The people of Guyana deserve institutions, not more of Madam Teixeira apparent acts of deception and illusion. Guyana does not need a “Gail Houdini”, we want a Gail Teixeira from 1979 who was fighting for the rights of the people with Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Where has that Gail Teixeira gone?