I received the above letter from Lord Ahmad, dated 18th December 2018, only two days ago.
I certainly appreciate hearing from him in response to my letter of 8th November 2018, in which I expressed the concerns of the Opposition regarding the manner in which the Constitutional Reform process had occurred. The people of Anguilla take Constitutional Reform very seriously indeed and desire that reforms are progressed in line with convention and established policies.
Lord Ahmad and his predecessors have repeatedly promised us that the British Government would not permit the Constitution to be amended without the support of the Opposition and the people generally, restated most recently in the British Government’s reaction to the Turks and Caicos proposals to amend their Constitution. Further, the British Government has repeatedly said that any amendment to the Constitution or the electoral process would never be permitted immediately prior to general elections, when they are designed to provide an advantage to the ruling party. The Anguilla elections are due in a little over a year, and there can be no doubt as to the motivation for expediting selective changes at this time.
Needless to say, we are still waiting to hear what the Government of Anguilla will tell us regarding their negotiations and discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Government. From Lord Ahmad’s letter, it would appear that the Chief Minister is continuing in his quest to convince the United Kingdom Government to disregard established policies and to introduce even more uncertainty in our relations. We must ensure that his efforts are not rewarded by our apathy. I am replying to Lord Ahmad to ensure that the full position is recorded and to alert him of our continued opposition and dissatisfaction with the process and the Draft Order in Council. We will not permit the Chief Minister to pretend that he has secured cross-party agreement.
Hopefully, we can look forward to the Chief Minister and his Ministers informing us about new developments of the Constitution at the next House of Assembly Meeting.
