As you are aware Constitutional Reform in Anguilla has been a lengthy process and is far from complete. The Joint Statement by UK and Anguilla Constitutional Reform Negotiating Teams dated 26th November 2019 and likely published in this week’s Anguillian speaks volumes. Before we consider the Joint Statement I must express my sincere appreciation to all those who have encouraged me and who have recognized the work that I have done and continue to do to raise awareness about the gaps and deficiencies as it relates to Constitutional Reform in Anguilla. It is your support that has sustained me and my efforts, particularly over the last year. Permit me to share with you a snippet of the level of advocacy undertaken in this process by yours truly in the best interest of the Anguillian people:
NOVEMBER 2018
• Joint Press Conference with Dr. Lorenzo Webster (Leader of AUM), Mr. Sutcliffe Hodge (Leader of DOVE Party), and Mr. Don Mitchell Q.C.
• Joint Letter to Lord Ahmad.
• Town hall meetings to raise awareness about the dangers of the piecemeal approach to Constitutional and Electoral Reform being executed by the AUF Government.
DECEMBER 2018 – JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL 2019
• Representations in House of Assembly sittings, particularly raising questions about the status of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform process and meetings between the AUF and the UK Government.
• Articles speaking to the dangers of the cherry-picking, piecemeal approach by the government.
• Consequences of the Order in Council 10th April 2019.
• Speaking to Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and further correspondence with Lord Ahmad.
JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2019
• National Address to alert the nation on the reforms that were excluded from the Elections Act (2019).
• Two (2) separate motions moved in the House of Assembly to withdraw the Elections Act (2019).
• Vigorous Debate on the Elections Act (2019) including all the reforms that AUF government excluded such as The Integrity Commission, A New Voters List, The Right to Stand (particularly for Public Servants), and Campaign Finance Regulations, and the threat to our overall electoral system proper in the absence of these holistic reforms.
• Breach of the Venice Commission which mandates a minimum of 12 months to accommodate changes to the electoral system proper.
• Correspondence with Lord Ahmad highlighting the gaps in the process.
• Correspondence to Governor Tim Foy requesting that he not sign the Elections Bill into Law.
• Article published in the Anguillian which shows the misalignment between the newly passed Elections Act (2019) and Sections 63 and 64 of the Anguilla Constitution (1982) in relation to the Fixed Date Elections Provision.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
• Statement of Dissent appended to the Final Report of the Committee of the Whole House of Assembly on Constitutional and Electoral Reform and published in the Anguillian Newspaper, which outlined previous arguments and the issues relating to the composition of the Committee itself, which was restrictive and not inclusive.
• Attending Public Consultations on Phase 2 of Constitutional Reform.
• Continued correspondence with Lord Ahmad.
• Open Communication with Ministry of Home Affairs on broadening the representation on the negotiating team with the British Government.
• A sustained effort to secure the APM’s representation on the Anguilla Negotiating Team as well as the participation of the Evangelical Association, and other NGO groups.
In the recent public consultation held at the Church of God Holiness with the team from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Wednesday Nov 20th 2019, I took the liberty to sit, listen and observe our people and the arguments they put forward. I felt this was best since I engaged with the FCO team directly as Leader of the Opposition, and also attended additional meetings with members from government and other parties. I must express my disappointment with leaders of a political party choosing to engage in this forum attired in party paraphernalia. This in my opinion, could be viewed as an attempt to introduce political bias into an open discussion that was intended to be representative of all voices. While this may not have been the intention, evaluations made post consultation suggest otherwise. I applaud the people who took the time to let their voices be heard; your impassioned presentations indeed show that you are truly invested in these matters.
Now that we are moving closer to the 2020 general elections, politicians that have ignored constitutional reform for the past year are now presenting themselves as authoritative figures on the subject. As Leader of the Opposition, I have worked to ensure that the will of the people remain the focal point in Constitutional Reform. This, despite several attempts by the AUF administration, to undermine this process for political expediency. It was interesting to me that the AUF from the outset wanted to put off the second phase of the constitutional and electoral reform until after the General Elections in 2020. I was not surprised since the “cherry-picked” provisions secured by the order in council in April were to their advantage. I was however surprised that after the characteristic protest by the AUM/APM about the “cherry-picked” provisions, its leader appeared happy enough to move away from his earlier principled position, to agree to put off the reforms. You will remember that our people called for a united opposition and holistic reforms. As soon as the leader recognized that his “new” brand would have to be discarded if he did not agree with the AUF to hold off on reform, he vacated his earlier stance. You may well ask “why, and why at this critical juncture?”
Editors Notes: Shorten for Space
