Youth urged to protest lack of support for age requirement shift for Parliament

A call has been sounded for young people across Barbados to stage a massive demonstration outside Parliament to show their displeasure at the failed attempt to allow persons as young as 18 to serve in the House of Assembly and the Senate.

The appeal came from retired parliamentarian Hamilton Lashley as he slammed the opposition of some Independent senators to key constitutional amendments that would have facilitated the lowering of the minimum age for appointments from 21 to 18.

“The youth response should be two ways – they should show their dissatisfaction by having a discussion on social media, but all of them should come out to Parliament next Tuesday and Wednesday when the Parliament meets,” Lashley told Barbados TODAY.

“Every 18-year-old, whether they are in school, at university or in the communities, should come out and show their concern . . . . Every student guild in Barbados, at the UWI [University of the West Indies] at the Community College at the Polytechnic [Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology], in all of the sixth forms in this country should go down to Parliament and let their voice be heard. And I, Hamilton FitzGerald Lashley, would also join them as a big youth,” added the 70-year-old former politician.

Last Friday, debate on the constitutional amendments to change the age of eligibility for both Houses of Parliament was suspended when it became evident that not enough Independent senators would back the move to get the required two-thirds majority support.

“I’m having extreme difficulty understanding and comprehending the decision that was made in the hallowed halls of the Parliament of Barbados which is the ultimate lawmaker in this country,” said Lashley, who served in the Lower House for 19 consecutive years, adding that it is, in principle, “a serious retrograde step that impedes and infringes on the rights of all youth in this country that are 18 years old”.

“As I understand it, at the moment they are more accepting if you are 21 years old, you have that eligibility to enter Parliament which, in my mind, is complete nonsense,” he added.

“What is so hypocritical about it is that you are telling my daughter or my granddaughter or grandson that you could vote, but you cannot sit in the House of Assembly, which is a wrong thing, which is a backward thing,” added the former MP.

“You’re telling me that 18 year-olds have the right to do everything except sit down in the halls of Parliament? I believe that all 18 year-olds in this country have a very clear and vivid understanding of political structure and understand what their rights are in terms of participation, in terms of having the eligibility and the right to exercise their franchise in this democratic system. Every one of them should appeal and reject this decision that was made in the senate,” Lashley concluded. (KS)