The Herdmanston Accord requires that elections under the new constitution shall be held within 18 months of the date, 17 July 1999, when the Report of the Constitution Reform Commission will be handed over to the Special Select Committee for transmission to the National Assembly.

There is an assumption that, regardless of whether there is a consensus constitution or not, the country can confidently go forward to elections within the Herdmanston time frame. This assumption should not be encouraged. It is clear that the Accord anticipated a new constitution with which all, or the major players, are mainly satisfied. In some circumstances, the constitution itself and thus the elections to he held under it, may become a point of disagreement among parties.

Whatever the results of the constitutional reform process, the people of the country are entitled to a period of preparation for the likely effects of the changes. If the reforms keep a majority system on traditional lines, then the people are entitled to an atmosphere that gives it the best chance of working in their favour. If it is going to be a majority system with "inclusiveness" the people are also entitled to know how to use it. If the political system is to undergo change towards what has been described as power-sharing, then there must also be preparation for such an outcome. The same will be the case if mild or extreme devolution were to be recommended.

The much discussed lack of stability and prevalence of tension of the last eighteen months demand the attention of all concerned persons and organisations and all well-wishers of the Guyanese people. Since it appears that political tension or industrial tension sparks economic tension, then it is logical to assume that economic progress and human development will be jeopardised if the main and the minor political and economic forces fail to produce a means of management of our maladies.

The aim of this proposal is to achieve what the Herdmanston Accord has not so far achieved or rather, to facilitate the basic aims of the Accord effort in an attempt to help create a development friendly atmosphere in Guyana.

First Appeal: A Consensus Constitution

Our first appeal therefore is for a consensus constitution based on the decisions and recommendations of the Commission and for maximum give and take and readiness to change.

The Herdmanston Accord achieved a novel compromise, which shortened by about two years the life of a government whose election had given rise to controversy. Whatever the circumstances in which it was made, it is a concession which does credit to those who made it. At another level, those who in l992 conceded governmental control of the Elections Commission, whatever the circumstances, made an important concession. In each case the impelling reason for the concession was the taking note of the discomfort of the other. These acts must go down in our history of nation formation as most significant contributions. It is unfortunate that in the daily exchanges, these important and decisive contributions are underplayed. The nation should recognise, apart from its weaknesses, its own strengths and should build on these strengths.

Second Appeal: Modification of the Herdmanston Timetable

Our second appeal is for the modification of the Herdmanston timetable. This will mean listing the things to be done to carry out the agreement within the time fixed. These tasks will require time for public information delivery and public discussion. There should be no need to rush as in l997. It will be ill -advised in our circumstances to imagine that there is a routine fixed for elections. Elections in Guyana dare not be taken for granted.

Tasks and Processes

The Constitution Reform Commission shall hand over its report to the Select Committee of the National Assembly by July 17, l999. Some of the most important tasks and processes follow:

• 1. Select Committee preparation and consideration of the CRC Report.
  
• 2. Submission of the Report with Recommendations for the process to the National Assembly.
  
• 3. The National Assembly debate of the Report and Recommendations.
• 4. The Assembly to direct the engagement of experts for the drafting of its decisions into constitutional form, thus creating the new constitution.
  
• 5. The draft Bill to return to the Assembly and be widely published. There should be room for public discussion of the proposed new constitution from this stage to the Referendum stage.
  
• 6. After a reasonable time the National Assembly will vote on the new Bill and send it to a referendum.
  
• 7. The framing of the Referendum Bill which must also be debated and authorised by the Parliament under the existing constitution.
  
• 8. Preparations for Referendum poll, including public education campaigns.
  
• 9. Preparations for the planned elections in January 2001. Satisfying the requirements of such polling will require the following:

  a) Establishment of an Elections Commission acceptable to all sides.
  b) Preparation of the list of electors.
  c) Preparation and issue of voter i.d. cards.
  d) Possible demarcation of boundaries if the Commission's recommendations on the electoral system make these necessary, e.g. if First-Past-the-Post is accepted for local government elections as proposed.

If we add to this the overdue local government elections, and if we assume -- as we must -- that the election campaign in 2001 will be at least as divisive as the zero-sum campaign of 1997, it is difficult not to conclude that the months ahead hold out the very real prospect of more stress and tension for the people of the country, many of whom are already voting with their feet in alarming numbers.

Third Appeal: Two Year Transitional National Government

This is the essence of the proposal, made in the Constitution Reform Commission in my name, that the two-year period -- or longer period if necessary -- ensuing after the negotiated end of the current term of office be used creatively in the interest of national reconciliation. Simply, we propose that the two-year vacuum should be filled by a national government which is composed according to the declared results at the l997 general elections.

The prospect should attract all friends of Guyana, since reconciliation is the very essence of what is missing in our national life. As used here the term does not mean identity of thought and opinion and does not seek to remove critical examination and appraisal of public actions. It refers to the mood in which these things are done. The merit of the proposal is that neither major party will be isolated.

Such a transitional government will be able to achieve many of the tasks necessary for laying the foundations of modern nationhood: national policy on environment and transfer of technology; physical planning and structure of industry, as well as basic human development, i.e duties, rights and entitlements of children, of youth, of women and men, of the disabled and the elderly and of persons seriously ill and of prisoners of the state.

Above all the two-year period should be used for full local and national consultation about the future, an opportunity which we can snatch from the tensions of the present. These consultations should be national and local and held under neutral guidance by political parties fully associated and committed. Without this process, Guyana will not be ready for the new century with its combination of multi-faceted changes.

Without such a transition and reconciliatory period of preparation, there is every likelihood that the national interest will continue to be secondary to party preferences which are of course part of the national interest, but which in raw competition often consume the parties.

The worst omen will be the rejection of this proposal by any important section of the society, without recommending at the same time or soon after a superior approach to the period which lies ahead of us. The best formula then seems to be a neutral one, which can allay disappointment and curb the sense of triumph which normally follows victory.