These amendments are not big deals

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Introduction

It is very important the people of the Turks and Caicos get a constitution that is reasonable and do not cause the parliamentarians hands to be tied.

The amendments to the Constitution have been ongoing since 2019. I know I personally submitted commentary in October 2019 and here we are (five years later) in October 2024 hoping to finalize the amendments.

The good thing about making changes to the constitution is that it is a collaboration between both political parties and of course input from the people of the country. However, this last serious of meetings with the people, I am not sure if we should call that consultation given that I believe these amendments are already finalized. I appreciate the fact though that there have been real consultations in the past.

What is a constitution?

A constitution not only provides the guidelines and rules by which a government operates but it also includes the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The Turks and Caicos had several constitutions, and many believed that the 2006 Constitution was perhaps the best. However, due to alleged corruption, that constitution was replaced by the 2011 Constitution.

The proposed amendments

There are several proposed amendments to the Constitution namely

• Change of name of House of Assembly to Parliament
• Change name from Ordinance to Law
• Removal of appointed members and qualifications of elected members
• Autonomous and exclusive capacity of cabinet
• Governor’s delegation of responsibility for matters relating to external affairs
• Establishment of cabinet office and cabinet secretary
• Establishment of national security council.
• Dissolution of the Parliament term from four to five years
• Composition and powers of Electoral District Boundary Commission
• Power to provide for a referendum
• Provisions relating to Standing Orders
• Role of Chief Justice
• Establishment and functions of the Regiment and Police and Defence Service Commission.
• Functions of institutions protecting good governance and establishment of Constitutional Commission.
• Establishment of International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

My opinion

Some of these changes are cosmetic changes and I agree with most of the changes so I will not provide an opinion on all the amendments.

My position in 2019 remains the same as the appointed members. I don’t think we should have eliminated the appointed members. However, I do think the Governor should have only be able to appoint one member rather than two.  Let us face reality, there are some individuals that make a great contribution and becoming a member of the House of Assembly through appointment is one to do so. I do not see the need to have 19 elected members given the size of our voters list and the ability for more individuals to become pensionable after two terms. I think we also must be very careful about the qualifications of individuals to become an elected member, especially the leader. I think the person should be a Turks and Caicos Islander through descent or birth.

Apparently, the Constitution is silent on the capacity of cabinet dealing with domestic affairs. The proposed amendment has clearly given the cabinet autonomous capacity. I am not sure that this is a big deal because this is already practice today. The big deal for me and for the country would have been for decisions in the cabinet by majority of votes among the elected officials in cabinet. The Deputy Governor and the Attorney General can advise but they should not be allowed to vote. I also think that members of the cabinet should have the right to speak outside of the cabinet on any proposals if there is no breach of confidentiality with certain proposals.

I also support the amendment to change the term from four years to five years. The way Government operates, it takes a very long time to get things done especially when it comes to procurement and therefore five years seem reasonable to me. It is five years in the UK, and it is five years in the Bahamas so why not do five years in Turks and Caicos.

My final comment is that I support the inclusion of a referendum in the amendment. There have been a lot of discussions about referendums, but I remember hearing others stated that the constitution does not provide for referendums on issues of national importance.

Conclusion

I encourage all of us to get familiar with our constitution and the amendments. As I mentioned in my feedback in 2019, there should be establishment of active local boards for each island and these boards can replace the constituency candidates. The Government will allocate funds for each island which will be administered by a local board. I know we have the District Administration Board, but I think we need to make it bigger than that. I also think that there should be a fixed period for judges because familiarity with everyone can be awkward and can lead to compromise. I also think there should be a fixed date for the election. Finally, it is my view that the non-elected officials in cabinet should not be able to make a difference in cabinet unless what is being proposed is contrary to the law.