Opposition tables motion against PPP revert to ‘Amerindian’ Affairs Ministry

The Opposition has given the Clerk of the National Assembly notice that it intends to move a motion to retain the name ‘Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs’ instead of ‘Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ as reverted to by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration. The motion has been moved by Member of Parliament (MP), Devin Sears and prepared by MP, Juretha Fernandes.

At the swearing-in ceremony of PPP Ministers on August 5, it was announced that Pauline Campbell-Sukhai has been reinstated to her former post as ‘Minister of Amerindian Affairs’. The move angered indigenous groups and displeased the likes of Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman; former Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton, and indigenous rights activist, Jean La Rose. Political observers say that the debate of the motion would be the litmus test of Shuman’s true independence as a Member of Parliament having been flirting with the ruling PPP/C who has handed him a adviser post and also voted him in as deputy speaker.

As far back as 2005, indigenous groups in Guyana have been pushing for the renaming of the ‘Amerindian Act’ (then Bill) to the ‘Indigenous Peoples Act’. It stemmed from belief that categorizing an Act or any representative body tasked with defending the rights of indigenous peoples as ‘Amerindian’ is discriminatory.

When the coalition took up office in 2015, immediately, former President David Granger renamed the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs. The step was one of several recognized by the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, held on September 28-29, 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The motion moved by Sears establishes that the Preamble of the Constitution refers to Guyana’s First Peoples as “Indigenous Peoples”. It states, further, that United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007 to address the rights and concerns of indigenous peoples worldwide and thereby refers to the First Peoples of nations as “Indigenous Peoples”.

The motion also highlights that approximately 2,000 Guyanese indigenous peoples and Guyanese of other ethnicities have signed an online petition against the renaming of the “Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs” to “Ministry of Amerindian Affairs”.

“I think this is not an issue that should be seen for any political party to treat it as their choice. It has to be the choice of the people and if the people say we want ‘indigenous’ that should be the case,” La Rose, who signed the petition, had stated.

Shuman, also a signatory to the petition said: “This continuous flip-flopping of Ministries and altering the names of Ministries, it does not bode well for a population that already does not have the requisite information or do not have access to information. So, what I wanted to propose when we go to Parliament is that to rename a Ministry should be an act of Parliament not an act of Administration. That way there is continuity in how that Ministry operates.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Norton added his thoughts: “I think it is intentional because of the fact that history points in the direction of the error that was made by [Columbus] that came and thought he discovered the Indians and called the people Indians. We are not making any effort to genuinely correct that error.”

Sears therefore asks that the National Assembly to place on record his party’s genuine concern, and the concern of indigenous peoples of Guyana, in the renaming of the Ministry as this intention of the Government can be seen on various pieces of documents associated with the Ministry presently.

He further asks the House to direct the Government to retain the present name of the Ministry in keeping with the request of the indigenous peoples of Guyana, the Constitution of Guyana and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The motion, once approved by the Speaker to be in keeping with the Standing Orders, shall be placed on the Order Paper of the next Sitting of the National Assembly.