Prime Minister Mia Mottley was well within her rights to propose a series of live political debates ahead of the upcoming St George North by-election.
That is according to the former chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Sir Philip Serrao, who contended that Mottley’s proposal did not need the approval of the electoral body.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Serrao, who served as chairman of the EBC from 1994 to 2008, maintained there was no requirement for the Prime Minister to consult the EBC before making the suggestion ahead of the November 11 vote.
Shortly after announcing, two Fridays ago, that there would be three debates televised live on the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and organised by the Barbados Association of Journalists and Media Workers (BARJAM), Mottley was criticised by Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn and Opposition Leader and President of the People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), Bishop Joseph Atherley, who argued she had no power to do so.
Political scientist Cynthia Barrow-Giles also maintained that it was the role of the EBC to organise political debates ahead of an upcoming election or by-election.
But Sir Philip has disagreed with those views.
The Queen’s Counsel, who supervised two general elections and one by-election – St Thomas in 2001 – said the EBC had never been approached or consulted for consent to host any political debates during his tenure.
“In my time as chairman, in 14 years, no political party or person has ever come to us for consent for a political debate. As far as I am concerned, the Prime Minister was absolutely not out of order to arrange such a debate…because it is not a proposal that requires the consent of the Commission…There is no requirement…I don’t see any problem with it at all,” maintained Sir Philip, who was awarded the Knight of St Andrew in 2018 for his outstanding work in modernising the Barbados Electoral System and its administrative processes.
Franklyn, an outspoken trade unionist, had insisted that the EBC was responsible for arranging any political debates. He said both the Prime Minister and BARJAM were “out of order”.
“The Prime Minister is out of order and the Prime Minister cannot manipulate everything in Barbados to her liking or to her choosing. She has no role in this matter whatsoever,” he argued at the time.
“She can call an election and she has done that, that is the extent of her role. She can’t get into everything and control everything…. If there is going to be any political broadcast or anything like that, that is the Electoral and Boundaries Commission. It is outside of her purview; she can’t do that.”
Franklyn referred to 41C of Barbados’ Constitution on the issue which states: “The registration of voters and the conduct of elections in every constituency or any matters that appear to the Commission to be incidental to or consequential upon either, shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Commission.
“In the exercise of its functions under this section the Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.”
Sir Philip noted that while the political parties could be invited to participate in any political debates they were not compelled to do so.
Meanwhile, Bishop Atherley cautioned that the PdP could opt not to take part in the debates if conditions were not fair.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb
