#BTColumn – Constitutional reform is needed

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by John Beale

Grenadian politician and lawyer Dr. Francis Alexis Q.C. and St. Lucia based attorney-at-law David Cox at the recent UWI town hall meeting emphasized the need for urgent constitutional reform in the Caribbean. Their contribution was excellent, and led to certain logical conclusions.

The decision for Barbados becoming a republic was long overdue and welcomed by most Bajans. While the Government of Barbados (GOB) stated that it would be reviewing the constitution and making necessary
changes starting in 2022, it should have done so before becoming a republic.

It is widely perceived that the GOB in their urgency to become a republic, put the cart before the horse, and that prior wide discussion would have been preferred in order to gauge public opinion on fundamental issues.

TERM LIMITS FOR PRIME MINISTER AND SET ELECTION DATE

Foremost among these issues are the widely expressed view that there should be limits on terms of a prime minister and, further, that the date for general elections should be set by law at intervals of five years with no authority for the dates to be altered.

Having a leader remain in office indefinitely is unhealthy. Whenever a PM or President stays in power too long there is a strong tendency for them to become very arrogant, autocratic, hardly listening to any advice and believing  that they are entitled to rule — many simply do not want to leave office.

Just look at events in Guyana, St. Vincent, Venezuela, USA, Nicaragua, Russia etc. Even our outstanding former PM, Owen Arthur who was victorious for three five-year terms tried to be elected a 4th time. Our present PM, Mia Mottley who has many superb qualities of an exceptional leader has stated that she believes in term limits for a PM. It remains to be seen if she maintains this philosophy and if so, how many terms.

A political party that is an incumbent government has many advantages in an election. It is usually easier to be re-elected than for an opposition party to win. The ruling party has all the machinery in place and can take actions to win votes.

In Barbados, the government can use the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a sort of political mouth piece in communicating with the general public. It is not surprising that every leader of the opposition says that the CBC should be privatised but whenever they get in power the CBC remains under government control — despite losing thousands of dollars per month.

Being able to call a snap election is also a huge benefit to the party in power because it allows them to be better prepared as only the PM sets the date. In order to have a more level playing field, all Bajans must know that elections will be called on the 5th anniversary of the last election.

The reason for furthering proper constitutional development and improvement before becoming a republic is that once achieving republican status, constitutional change slips from the Government’s agenda and important checks and balances fail to be instituted.

Does anyone really think that a government that did not pass legislation for an integrity bill with teeth will make meaningful constitutional changes? Does anyone really think that there exists any politician anywhere who supports restrictions and limits on their powers?

IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

A key factor in the outcome of any meaningful constitutional reform is to achieve better governance through increased accountability of politicians while encouraging/permitting more Bajans to get involved in governance. There are over 400 community-based organisations (CBOs) in Barbados. This shows that Bajans have a serious interest in contributing to governance. Our Constitution needs to empower our CBOs because that empowerment is unlikely to come from the politicians.

Barbados has been blessed with a number of good leaders but we have experienced poor governance. It is therefore essential that our “Constitutional Reform” enables our population in general to get involved in governance and to exercise checks and balances that hold our Public Sector and politicians accountable. If the proposed constitutional reform does not accomplish this, then we will be “spinning top in mud”.

Some topics for discussion are:

1. Do we need a non-executive, ceremonial head of state? It seems a very expensive title,filled with pomp and ceremony that we do not need. Instead of having our head of state toast our centenarians the GOB can have that function performed by various ministers. “Government House”, now Presidents House could be made into a museum or historical attraction.

2. Do we need a Senate when it has no power to reject government spending and borrowing, and if its members do not comply with instructions, they can simply be removed and replaced by more compliant persons? Should we consider unicameral legislature?

3. Should there be more parliamentary oversight and compulsory accountability of the office of the
Prime Minister?

4. Will the Public Sector be held more accountable, especially as Civil Servants salaries are over $1 billion annually?

5. How can we enshrine in the Constitution that transparent action must be taken on reports of the Auditor-General on pain of removal from office of the finance minister or other ministers and implicated ministry officials as indicated?

Bajans must guard against the ruling political party using constitutional reform as a means of further entrenching their position. Having too much power under the domain of too few is dangerous for a democracy.

John Beale is a former Barbados Ambassador to the US and OAS for 7 1/2 years appointed by the DLP and a former Barbados Honorary Consul to Brazil for 10 years appointed by the BLP. He has never joined any political party.