Looks as though T&C might embrace change before we do.Constitution reform proposal open for local scrutiny
Kate Sullivan, the individual charged with the task of formulating a new constitution for the Turks and Caicos Islands, said there would be a great deal of opportunities for local participation, since recommendations would be sought before the final document is bound and sealed.
Speaking to members of the media on matters relating to the recently released draft Constitution which is available for public consumption, Sullivan said the new TCI Constitution would be formulated with the participation of Turks and Caicos Islanders, and so far she has got a great deal of feedback from the local populace.
While noting that she was open to suggestions on her already documented recommendations, Sullivan strongly believes that the voting system under the elected government should not be retained since it does not augur well for good governance, and to this end, introduced two options for the public to mull over.
“Basically, the first option is a fairly standard list Proportion Representation System, which is fairly used widely around the world, and the second one is called Mixed Member Proportional or Additional Member System, which is used in Germany, and is the best known country that uses it, but it is not a German system, and in fact, is used in New Zealand, and is actually used in the UK, to elect the Scottish Parliament, and the Greater London Assembly,” Sullivan noted.
She explained that her belief that such system might be an option for the TCI and why persons may warm towards it is that it has both district MPs representing a particular island, while also making it possible to elect individuals on national scale. She noted that such endeavour would require two ballot papers or fit the two on the same paper.
In her recommendation, Sullivan noted that there was no need to make changes to an area of the 2006 Constitution where it was stipulated that the governor, while could consult, does not have to follow the instructions of the elected members of the cabinet as it relates to external affairs, defence and internal security, including the police and certain public service matters.
According to her, while not being asked to recommend changes to the Governor’s role in relations to special responsibility, she was not led to believe that such recommendations were necessary anyway.
However, she said it was necessary to recommend changes to the way the governor takes advice from the cabinet relating to ministerial responsibilities, as stated in the 2006 Constitution, which stipulated that the governor must follow the advice of the Cabinet in areas of ministerial responsibility, including health, education, immigration and Belongership, crown land, public finances and development applications.
“What I am suggesting is that we introduce a system of governance principles where there would be a statement which said, ‘here is the principles of good governance in the TCI’, and later to followed by the governor and by the Government, and everybody that works in Government would have to follow them as well. And those principles would be public and people would know exactly what they are. They would be about transparency, accountability, and good process and following due process and decision making,” Sullivan said.
According to Sullivan, under such regime, if the governor feels that he is being asked to take a decision on the advice of the cabinet that did not fit those principles, would be able to reject such advice. In rejecting a particular advice, according to Sullivan, the governor would essentially be asking the proponent of recommendation to make adjustments and present it at a later date.
She noted that the role of the deputy governor should be clearly defined as was not the case in the past. She recommends that the deputy governor be head of the public service, and that such a position should not be exclusive to the Belongers, but also expatriates.
“Certainly, for a while there is a lot of work going into reforming the public service and changing the way that government works. And I think you need make sure that you find the best possible person (to head the service), and it is possible that person may be a Belonger, and it is possible that person may not be a Belonger. So I don’t think at the moment that it should be restricted to a Belonger. But that does not preclude a Belonger from winning that job in the open competition,” Sullivan indicated.
With relation to the enlargement of the voting franchise, Sullivan noted that she was only asked to look at the definition and not necessarily prescribing changes to it, noting that in her opinion, the status quo should remain the same.
However, she noted that there should be a clear objective and documented process through which an expatriate can be eligible to vote, saying that the current system remains very unclear.
“You would still have people who are Belongers by birth and people who are entitled to apply for Belongership by marriage, instead of the situation we have now where it is a discretionary grant, and it’s very unclear, and completely a subjective process, which I know the Commission of Inquiry discussed.
“And it has been an issue in particularly during the Immigration Reform Commission, which looked at this issue and was very concerned about the fact that there weren’t a process. Now is the time to act on all those concerns and all of those recommendations and put a process in place,” Sullivan indicated.
Sullivan also recommended that persons, who have been living in the Turks and Caicos Islands for more than five years and have not run afoul of the law, should able to apply for Permanent Residency Certificate (PRC), which would also entitle them to apply for a British Overseas Territory Citizenship. She noted that after ten years, such persons should be entitled to apply for a grant of Belongership, explaining that once they are Belongers they would be entitled to vote.
She noted that in the absence of such process, a transition mechanism should be put in place to allow deserving expatriates the right to vote. She pointed out that not everyone applying for Belongership is desirous of voting, but rather would desire the document as part of their commitment to the upward mobility of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Sullivan also recommends a change to the way political party financing is done. According to her, party finances need to be transparent. She said parties should be registered, and that there should be a scheme of permissible party donors. She recommends that there should be a ban on donations from non-permissible sources, noting also that public disclosure of income and expenditure of the party should be made, and the administration of scheme by the supervisor of elections be put in place.
Posted August 6 2010
http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=1053
