| Dear Fellow Anguillians: Greetings! It is now fairly common knowledge that I have been appointed as Chairman of Anguilla’s Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee. This is the third time that a committee/commission has been appointed to reform and update the Anguilla Constitution. |
| The first committee under the leadership of Mr. David Carty published its report in 2005, and the second commission, led by Mr. Don Mitchell, published its report in 2006, followed by a draft constitution in 2008. In addition, Mrs. Lolita Richardson also produced a draft constitution. For some unknown reasons, the reform project just stopped, and now has been started for a third time, and hopefully for the last. Discussions following the second report in 2006 focused heavily on the issue of full internal self-government for Anguilla. This was seen as the clearly expressed desire and aspiration of the people, from east to west, and from north to south. The two draft constitutions which were subsequently prepared took note of this, and sought to honour that clearly expressed wish of the people of Anguilla for internal self rule. As the recently formed committee sets about its work, a letter was received from the Governor of Anguilla accompanied by a statement entitled “Statement by Governor on Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee”. I thought it necessary to share this statement with you, the general public, and to invite your response. In my judgment, there is clearly the need for meaningful dialogue if the fundamental principles of democracy and the concept of “partnership” are to be given true expression as we go forward. The statement from the Governor reads: I welcome the establishment of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee and wish it well in its work, as I know the British Government does. The British Government fully agrees that there is a need for a new, more modern, Constitution for Anguilla. It agrees that the chapter on fundamental rights and freedoms requires modernization, and looks forward to hearing the Committee’s views on this. It particularly welcomes the references in the Committee’s Terms of Reference to the need for the new Constitution to command the widest support from the people of Anguilla. A Constitution should bedesigned to last for many years and through changes of Government, and cannot reflect the views of a single party. As the GoA are aware, the British Government is currently reviewing the relationship between the OTs and the UK a decade on from the White Paper “Partnership for Progress and Prosperity” produced by the last Government. The GoA has been consulted about this and there will be further consultations as the process continues, notably at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council in November. British Ministers’ overall vision is for the Territories to be vibrant and flourishing communities, proudly retaining aspects of their British identify and generating wider opportunities for their people. The British Government has made clear that its relationship with the Overseas Territories means mutual obligations and responsibilities. The UK is committed to supporting economic and political development, to common principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and to the implementation of good governance standards. It is determined that the situation in the Turks and Caicos Islands will not be repeated, there or elsewhere. The British Government therefore wants to work with Territories to make sure the right controls are in place to ensure good governance and sound management of public finances. The UK Government believes that the current constitutional model is fitfor purpose. As Mr. Bellingham said in his letter of 11 March to the Chief Minister and other OT leaders, the relationship set out in the Territories’ constitutions is fundamentally right. He is not proposing any change in the fundamental structure of the relationship. This is not to change the constitutional relationship, but to see that it works better. In this context, the concept of Associated Statehood previouslyproved to be an unsatisfactory model for the West Indies territoriesconcerned, which wereunable to exercise full independent statehood, including a seat at the UN and conduct of their foreign affairs, and for the UK which was inhibited from exercising its responsibilities for good governance in the territories concerned. Whereindependence is an option and is the clear and constitutionally expressed wish of the people of the Territories, the British Government will give every help to those Territories to achieve it. As I made clear on Anguilla Day, it is open to the people of Anguilla to exercise that option at any time. A new Constitution for Anguilla will be promulgated by Her Majesty The Queen by Order in Council on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. It follows that the newConstitution will be drafted by constitutional experts in the FCO. The drafters will want to take full account of the views of the people of Anguilla and the Committee’s work will be a valuable input into that process. As with other Overseas Territories, I would expectthe FCO to have extensive discussions with an Anguillian delegation before a draft Constitution was finalised. The FCO experts would be willing to visit Anguilla at an early stage during the Committee’s work. Any draft Constitution produced by the Committee would be a useful reference point during future discussions with the FCO, but some other OT Committees also found it convenient to compile their views on the most important aspects of the new Constitution with reference back to the existing Constitution. With best wishes as we embrace the challenge of the future. Sincerely, |
