Gates opened

Veteran trade unionist Caswell Franklyn expects to see more public servants taking the bold step to run for political office in the future given the recent High Court ruling regarding the unconstitutionality of prohibiting public officers from engaging in active politics.

He believes there is a possibility that Parliament could move to restrict specific categories of public servants from running for political office, however.

“And that is only sensible because you cannot have a permanent secretary, a commissioner of police, or the people who write speeches for ministers running for political office,” Franklyn noted. “There would have to be some clarification as the law intended from 1966, they just never put it in place,” the former Opposition senator added.

Saying he was not surprised by the recent ruling by Justice Westmin James, Franklyn explained that he was also not shocked that teachers Pedro Shepherd and Alwyn Babb who were both charged last year by the Ministry of Public Service under General Order 3.18:1 for contesting the January 2022 general election and suspended with half pay, are no longer facing charges.

Babb contested the St Peter seat and Shepherd the St Michael South East constituency, both unsuccessfully on behalf of the Democratic Labour Party.  Shepherd, a Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School teacher said the charges against him were for speaking at a political meeting at Haggatt Hall, being absent from school on the January 12 and 13 without excuse and for insubordination stemming from his non attendance at a meeting to which he was invited by the Chief Education Officer. He said he had told her he was unable to attend.                           

Justice James’ ruling came after Natalie Murray, a temporary household facilitator in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs brought a constitutional claim against the state after she was informed that a disciplinary report was submitted regarding her appearance as a speaker on the political platform of the Barbados Labour Party in the same 2022 General Election.

In light of the recent developments, Franklyn, the General Secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) told Barbados TODAY that the judge’s ruling should not be seen as a landmark decision that changed the law which has been around since the Barbados Independence Order 1966 was issued.

Franklyn insisted: “The law allows for all public officers, except for three categories, to run. Then the Constitution states that Parliament can decide that other public officers, in addition to the three, can be excluded from running for political office.

“The ruling that we got is not surprising by any stretch of the imagination. It is not anything new, it is just that the people in Barbados don’t like to read, or they would have known that this is what the law states,” he said.

Meanwhile, Franklyn contended that the two teachers who were at the centre of the disciplinary hearing have been wrongfully accused.

When news broke in April 2022, that the educators were sent on half pay leave for six months, Franklyn argued that the only thing the teachers did was to exercise their constitutional right.

The outspoken Franklyn insisted that Babb whom he represented, and Shepherd, had done no crime.

On March 31, three weeks after Justice James’ ruling, Shepherd was informed during a disciplinary hearing chaired by the Director General for Human Resources in the Ministry Penelope Linton, that the charges against him would be scrapped.

Babb, who was actually found guilty and penalised by the ministry for being a candidate in the election, told Barbados TODAY that he was awaiting a written decision on reinstatement, compensation and the clearing of his name.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb