Barbadians were promised a Republican form of government in 2005 under a Barbados Labour Party government, 10+ years later this promise among others made by elected officials remain unfulfilled. It is a problem Barbadians have become frustrated by the inability to respond and is reflected in the increasing number of eligible voters who have deliberately not exercised their right to vote and or demonstrate ignorance to do so.
In the face of evidence that any system is not working efficiently, sensible managers of the system will make changes. There is a heavy reluctance by Barbados to address a governance system that shuns holding the main actors accountable, for example, ignoring a decade of Auditor General reports, the inability to enforce government’s financial rules, the untold power of a prime minister come to mind. Yet we continue to hold up a system that is falling short as sacrosanct. Who will bell the cat?
It is evident Barbados has lost the leadership position it once held in the region. One reason, the inability of the political directorate to make timely decisions and execute efficiently. Against the background that change is needed to make our political system more relevant, the Kamla Persad-Bissessar Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) led government decision to propose constitutional reform is noteworthy. The T&T experience has been eventful compared to Barbados but there is no reason why learnings from T&T should not engineer proactivity on our part.
BU is aware Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley has described the move to debate the amendment a distraction, and there is merit in his position. BU however welcomes the decision by the government of T&T to debate the issue. The inconvenience of cancelling summer vacation should not be too great a sacrifice by those elected to serve the people to make.
Proposed changes to the Constitution by Persaud-Bissessar are:
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Term limit for which a person serves as prime minister to no more than 10 years whether the service is continuous or has been interrupted.
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The power to recall members of the House of Representatives if two thirds of persons who on the date of the petition were registered in the constituency.
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Permit only candidates who have earned greater than 50% of votes cast in respective constituencies to be elected to the House of Representatives. A supplementary poll between the candidates who earned the highest and second highest number of votes would be held to resolve.
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