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Opposition states Section 49 concern

Opposition Leader Mark Golding and Minister of Legal & Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte te
 
Opposition Leader Mark Golding has expressed concern about the proposal to make it easier to pass amendments to the constitution. 
 
The Constitutional Reform Committee has proposed amendments to Section 49 of the Constitution, which sets out the requirements for the process of enacting changes. 
 
Mr Golding, speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, questioned whether the protections in that section could be eroded by any attempt to alter the requirements. 
 
He said the required dialogue has not been taking place with the Opposition on the matter, "and I consider it necessary to see that; something of that nature ought to be shared and subject to some amount of consultation between the two major political parties before embarking on it."
 
That approach was critical, he said, "because it is likely to be something that is going to be scrutinized very carefully, given the importance of the guardrails in the Constitution." 
 
Resorting to an old metaphor, Mr Golding reminded the House that "one hand simply cannot clap, and without the support of this side, this process is going nowhere." 
 
In response, Minister of Legal & Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte said there is no intention to exclude the Opposition from the talks.
 
Instead, she said, it was "the absence of the Opposition members from the (Constitutional Reform) Committee (that) has prevented the kind of update that we hope would have been provided on an ongoing basis."
 
"At some stage, the responsibility for the lack of update has to be owned (by the Opposition), because the mechanism was there," she retorted.
 
 
 
 
 
 


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