Senator warns against ‘self‑serving’ constitutional changes  

Opposition Senator Ryan Walters on Friday criticised Mia Mottley’s administration for using its parliamentary dominance to push what he described as “self‑serving” constitutional amendments, after the House of Assembly passed the bill limiting MPs’ ability to cross the floor.

 

Echoing what he described as a growing sentiment among both intellectuals and the general public, Senator Walters argued that the government’s legislative priorities had shifted away from the needs of citizens and towards the consolidation of party power.  

 

He focused on what he called a pattern of constitutional amendments following each of the administration’s landslide electoral victories. Senator Walters noted that this trend began in 2018, when the House of Assembly revised qualifications to allow two party members to sit in the Senate.  

 

He characterised this as a recurring strategy: “This is what has been said in many different spheres, from the intellects, from the layman … they wish for this practice not to be continued by this government.”  

 

On the constitutional amendment now before the Senate which limits the ability of Members of Parliament to “cross the floor”.

Senator Walters noted that after the 2022 general election victory, a similar attempt at amendment was made but ultimately “failed” and was withdrawn later that year.  

 

Reflecting on the government’s three successive clean sweeps of all the House seats at the polls — which he described as “30-love” in 2018, 2022 and 2026 — the senator expressed dismay that the first order of business after each win had been to alter the supreme law of the land.  

 

“Can you imagine that a government’s first actions after three successive victories … focus on the self‑serving need for the party and the members, and not the fullness of interest to the public who has elected them?”  

 

He warned that such legislative priorities have shaped how the electorate views the administration’s motives, stating plainly: “That is how people feel about these amendments to the Constitution.”  

 

Central to the senator’s argument was a formal rebuke from the Barbados Bar Association (BBA). Quoting from a press release issued Friday, Senator Walters highlighted the legal community’s alarm over being excluded from the legislative process.  

 

The BBA statement described the introduction of the bill as a move made without its input, noting:  

“The failure to engage with the BBA … represents a troubling disregard for established democratic norms and expert legal guidance.”  

 

Senator Walters emphasised that these criticisms were not merely partisan rhetoric but reflected a widening gap between the government and key national figures.