AG backs parliamentary reforms as vital for democracy

Attorney General Dale Marshall insisted that the government’s proposed parliamentary reforms are essential to modernise Parliament and strengthen democratic practice, despite opposition criticism over the timing of the changes.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley introduced a bill to amend the Constitution of Barbados to allow the lawmakers  to elect a Speaker from outside the House.

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill also allows for adjustments to be made regarding constituency sizes; and permits ministers to appear in the Senate to explain legislation.

Marshall said Barbados had spent years updating laws and administrative systems while leaving the structure of Parliament largely untouched, a pattern he described as untenable.

“We reform all the structures but we don’t ever reform ourselves,” he said. “It is as though that which we are and have been has become so ossified, so calcified, so crystal hard that there is a reluctance to say, you know what, we could find a better way.”

He said the government used this sitting not only to correct the constitutional schedule on constituency size but also to advance two significant reforms: widening the right of ministers to appear in the Senate to explain legislation and introducing an elected Speaker from outside the House.

On allowing all ministers an audience in the Senate, Marshall stressed that the approach aligned with long-standing regional practice. “The approach of having the opportunity of an audience in the other place is not novel,” he said. “We see great value in it and we feel that it improves the legislative framework in Barbados so that all parliamentarians have the opportunity to understand what is in the thinking of the chamber that they are not in.”

Turning to the election of a Speaker from outside Parliament, Marshall argued that the current model undermined constituency representation in a Parliament as small as Barbados’.

“In our small Parliament, an individual will go and offer himself to represent his constituents,” he said. “It therefore is inconsistent with the mandate given to an individual by the people that he should come to this Chamber and be told, you, we want you to be the Speaker and that which the people elected you to do, we are absolving you of that duty.”

Marshall added that companion legislation was required to ensure an elected Speaker enjoyed the same statutory protections and entitlements as MPs. “It is inconceivable that a Speaker coming to preside over this chamber would not benefit from the privileges and immunities that we have,” he said, noting that the law must also provide for remuneration for the office.

Rejecting criticism from Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne about the timing of the reforms, the attorney general said the government would not delay changes that improve Parliament’s functioning. “The timing is now. The timing is today,” he said.

“We are looking to make changes to improve the circumstances of our people,” Marshall concluded. “That is the mission that I am on. That is the mission that we are on.” (SZB)