‘Rush’ to republicanism condemned

Government’s ambitious goal of transitioning from a constitutional monarchy to a republican system of governance is another unnecessary “rush job” from the current administration, which is in desperate need of broader national discussion.

This is the perspective of the country’s umbrella trade union organisation whose leaders are concerned about the time for dialogue from now until November when the change is expected to be official.

In fact, General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) Dennis DePeiza warned that in the long run, the plan could very well do more harm than good.

“We had a similar thing the other day when we went through changes to the minimum wage overnight,” DePeiza declared.

“Another rush job and rush jobs don’t ever have good outcomes. They may appear so, but in the long term, we see the problems when the cracks begin to show. We need to do things properly.

“Good governance would dictate that if we are going to promote consultation, then practice it. Don’t say it as a matter of convenience. Practice it and don’t tell me ‘oh, I give you two months to do it’, because there is no way that we can properly treat to something like that in two months,” he warned.

During a press conference earlier this week, DePeiza argued that the Congress favours meaningful constitutional changes over empty ceremonial changes.

Lamenting the failure of the Government even to commence a meeting of the social partnership’s subcommittee in recent months, he lamented that established models for good governance appear to have gone through the window.

Nevertheless, he disclosed that CTUSAB has already made numerous submissions to the Republican Status Transition Advisory Committee containing constitutional changes that would benefit the country’s working masses.

“A constitution should widely define what the society understands by human rights, human dignity and fundamental rights. The Constitution must also say how those who lack power and those disadvantaged can advance their claims against public and private institutions, or get a remedy when their rights have been breached,” declared DePeiza.

“Now, we believe very much that the whole arrangement is a very commendable task, but we want to ensure that the Constitution guarantees the observance of the trends of the international courts in human rights matters, particularly in economic rights matters.

“So CTUSAB is positing that a constitution cannot be just a declaration of good intentions, but rather, core value systems with the main goals of facilitating progress and improving the life of others,” the CTUSAB General Secretary added.
(KS)