Former Deputy PM Haslyn Parris dies

Last Updated on Monday, 28 March 2016, 16:47 by Denis Chabrol

A former Deputy Prime Minister of Guyana, Haslyn Parris died Monday afternoon following an aneurysm Sunday night at his residence in Buxton, East Coast Demerara.

He was rushed to a city hospital for emergency surgery, but he succumbed at about 1 PM.

Parris was 75 years old.

In paying brief tribute to Parris, President David Granger hailed the late politician and academic as a “distinguished Guyanese” who has “made tremendous contributions throughout his life as a very young man to the present time” His intellect and his public service are well-recognised and we certainly would miss him,” he said.

A former Chief Economist at the Bank of Guyana, Harris was later appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the 1980s.

Up to the time of his passing, he had served as a member of the government-appointed Steering Committee on Constitutional Reform that has been established to chart the way forward to further amend the 1980 Constitution.

He had previously served as Coordinator of an Oversight Committee on Constitutional Reform Commission from 1999 to 2000 and was also a former member of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Parris has authored several books on Guyana’s politics and the constitution.

He was also an executive in Guyana’s bauxite industry for many years.