Nominees for ERC received from religious, cultural bodies –

Report For Appointing Members Adopted After

The nominees for the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) have been received and adopted by the National Assembly after months of consultation between the parliamentary committee of appointments and various stakeholder bodies.

This is according to the 7th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Appointments, which was chaired by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Chief Whip and Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira.

According to the report, various clusters of religious, cultural, and ethnic bodies were given a timeframe to come up with nominees. In fact, various extensions had to be granted. The deadline for submission of nominees had to be extended from September 20, 2022, as by October 18 only the Hindu and Indigenous bodies had completed the election process.

However, by January 18, 2023, nominees had been received from all clusters.

They included Reverend Rodwell Porter (Christian bodies), Pandit Krishna Sharma (Hindu bodies), and Moeen-ul Hack (Islamic bodies).

Meanwhile, Norris Witter (labour movement bodies), Charles Ogle (private sector bodies), Dwayne Adams (youth bodies) and Chandrowtie Sarran (women bodies) were nominated to the committee.