Despite all the work that has been done by Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commissions in Anguilla over the years, and with one fully completed document now on the table, a hold has been put on having a new Constitution for the island for the time being. Instead, work is in progress on having a set of very useful and timely amendments to the 1992 Constitution, and there will be a new Elections Act to give effect to some required electoral changes as well.
The reason for the hold off on an actual new Constitution is that the Anguilla Government, in consultation with the United Kingdom Government, is waiting to see how Anguilla’s relationship with the neighbouring French and Dutch islands will be impacted after Brexit- when the UK leaves the European Union next year.
The island’s constitutional situation was outlined by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, at a town hall meeting at the Morris Vanterpool Primary School in her East End/Sandy Hill constituency on Sunday evening, October 14. She told the gathering that a new draft constitution, prepared by a Constitution and Elections Committee, headed by Mr. Don Mitchell, and widely discussed on the island, had been submitted to the Anguilla Government to take forward.
“What has happened since then, as many of you know, is that we have the Brexit situation and because of that many countries, especially Anguilla, are trying to understand what that means for us here on this island,” the Minister explained. “If Britain leaves the EU, the question is what happens to our passports; our ability to go to and from St. Martin/St. Maarten which are French and Dutch members of the EU – and what that will mean for us as Anguillian/British citizens. I need to add, as well, that recently the UK indicated that they have formed a committee that will be looking over the next year at the British Overseas Territories and determining what type of relationship we will have with them in the future. Because of that, we felt that it may not be the right time to move forward with a fully changed Constitution.”
Mrs. Richardson-Hodge said that Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, had been lobbying along with Mrs. Blondel Cluff, Anguilla’s UK/EU Representative in London, to put Anguilla’s position forward to the UK Government. The Minister stressed that at stake was the need to understand that decisions about Brexit must take into consideration the close connections between Anguilla and St. Martin/St. Maarten. She explained that the Anguilla Government did not want to enter into wholesale constitutional reform while the UK was dealing with that issue; and that, in fact, the UK Government now had a committee looking at Anguilla’s relationship going forward.
She noted that Anguilla’s Constitution was outdated and the oldest in all the British Overseas Territories and that the Government wanted certain changes to be made now in line with discussions – on the new draft Constitution – which were held with the community. “If we can’t have a wholesale new Constitution, we are looking at amending the existing Constitution,” she said. She pointed out that this was communicated in a letter to Lord Ahmad, in June this year, by Chief Minister Banks who told him that the Anguilla Government was looking at two phases: immediate changes to the Constitution and then more comprehensive changes later on.
The changes include a change in the name from Chief Minister to Premier taking into account that Anguilla is the only Overseas Territory where that change has not taken place; a limit of two terms of office for the Premier; the inclusion of a procedure for replacing the Premier if he/she is sick and not able to continue his/her duties; an increase in the number of Government Ministers from four to a maximum of six taking into account the coming electoral reform and island-wide voting.
The proposed amendments also provide for the term ‘Belanger’ to be changed to ‘Anguillian’; to recognize grandchildren born outside Anguilla as Anguillians; and for Ministers of Religion to be able to contest an election and to hold electoral office. There is also a proposed change that a person not born in Anguilla, and commits a criminal offence, that such a person’s belongership, obtained by living in Anguilla, should be revoked.
“Those are some of the things outlined in the letter that we wrote to Lord Ahmad about,” Mrs. Richardson-Hodge told her listeners. “Lord Ahmad wrote back to us indicating that the only one he had a question on was the maximum of six persons to be elected members. The Chief Minister wrote back saying … that’s in relation to moving to the islandwide elections. We are waiting on Lord Ahmad as to how it is to be done. It has to be by an Order in Council. .. We want it to come very shortly so that we can take it to the public before we move forward.”
The Minister of Home Affairs spoke in some detail on plans for islandwide voting which would provide for four extra seats in addition to the seven districts seats- a total of eleven. She was of the view that islandwide voting was easier to be held in time for the coming 2020 elections than a review and change of the electoral boundaries. As a consequence, that change will not take place until there is sufficient time to educate the public accordingly in order to avoid confusion as to where persons should vote.
