RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW COMMISSION

The preliminary report of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) headed by Justice Suzie d’Auvergne has been leaked to the public.

The recommendations seemed useful but, by and large, they appear to be "nominal" and do not seem to reflect the fundamental constitutional changes that would uniquely define us and our aspirations. Some of the pro-Westminster ideals (like first past the post) remain deeply entrenched. I thought we would take a page from America and use the opportunity to make a paradigm change from "colonialism" or "neo-colonialism" to a new "constitutional framework" that genuinely defined us, our history and aspirations. But was that expected and why was it not delivered? Were the commissioners intellectually tired? Or is it that we as a people are generally conservative? Were the consultative models used appropriate? Were the commissioners able to "motivate" participation?

From a philosophical standpoint, we can define the recommendations as "accretionary"  and not "revolutionary" in the sense that they represent "little accretions" and "window-dressing"; and not the fundamental changes that would grow and strengthen our democracy.

Now that the phenomenon of "parliamentary criminality" has hit home, I was expecting to see a "revolutionary" provision(s) relating to parliamentarians with criminal backgrounds/records or who are convicts sitting in the House of Assembly or who desire to sit therein. Also, I didn't see a provision for the right of recall and the circumstances that would inform that decision. Even more critical, some recommendation for a "state standard" test (to assess verified academic competencies and emotional maturity) for aspiring parliamentarians should have been included.

I would also have liked to see that notorious "immunity" provision for parliamentarians who willfully defame fellow parliamentarians or citizens in the House be reviewed.

A lot of the "WTO thinking" that informed the "Movement of Factors" Act might also have had some relevance.

The Powerhouse is nonetheless happy to share some of recommendations of the CRC with you. The headings/subheadings were inserted by ourselves. Here we go:

A.  LANGUAGE OF THE CONSTITUTION:

1.   The language of the Constitution should be simplified.

2. The creation of a printed Kwéyòl version of the Constitution is not recommended to be part of the current exercise, but a future project should be the creation of an audio version in Kwéyòl.

3.     The language of the Constitution should be gender neutral.

B.   CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
1.     Capital punishment should be retained.

C.   SOCIAL ISSUES
1.     Children born out of wedlock should receive the same treatment under the Constitution as those born in wedlock.

        2.     Sexual intimacy in public should continue to be a criminal offence.

       3.     Marriage should continue to be between a man and a woman.

D.  GOVERNMENT & GOVERNANCE
1.     The constitutional monarchical system should be abolished and replaced with a republican constitutional system.

   2.   The Head of State should be a ceremonial President.

  3.   The Head of State should be indirectly elected based on a limited selectorate.

4.   The President should be a Saint Lucian by birth who has been resident in Saint Lucia for a minimum of ten years immediately prior to being nominated and must be between the ages of thirty-five (35) and seventy-five (75) years and should not have held office in a political party or stood for election as a candidate for elective office within ten (10) years of his/her nomination for President.

5.   With the exception of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Members of the House of Assembly and the Senate will no longer be members of the Cabinet.

   6. The First-Past-the-Post plurality system of elections should be retained.

E. ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNING
1. There should be fixed dates for Parliamentary Elections so that these elections are held every five (5) years on the 5th anniversary of the previous elections.

   2. The existing Electoral Commission and Constituency Boundaries Commission should be merged and call the Electoral and Constituency Boundaries Commission.

3. No person should be appointed to the office of Prime Minister for more than three (3) consecutive five (5) year terms. Where a Prime Minister has served for three (3) consecutive terms, he/she may return after a hiatus of five years.

4.   A Political Party and Elections Campaign Finance Act should be enacted which would among other things provide for a system of both private and public funding.

5.   Political parties should declare their assets and liabilities.

6.   All foreign government contributions for election purposes should be banned.

7.   A limit should be placed on contributions to political parties by companies and individuals.

8.   All sources of anonymous contributions should be prohibited.

F.   APPOINTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER

1.   The status quo in relation to the appointment of the Prime Minister be maintained. There should not be direct election of the Prime Minister.

G.  QUALIFICATIONS FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

1.   The Commission recommends that the requisite qualification for the Attorney General should be equivalent to that of a High Court judge.

H.  TITLE FOR LEADER OF OPPOSITION
1.     The title for the office of Leader of the Opposition should be changed to “Minority Leader”.

I.   MERGER OF SERVICE COMMISSIONS

2.   The Teaching Service Commission should be merged with the Public Service Commission.

G. INDEPEPENDENT POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION
1.     There should be an independent Police Complaints Commission.