That is the question that the people of Anguilla are to shortly answer during a series of consultations which the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Anguilla will be putting to them in each of the seven electoral districts.
The town hall meetings are to be held during the approaching month of September, when other matters relating to constitutional reform will also be discussed. The announcement was made at the Government’s Press Conference on Monday, August 16, 2021, by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Kenneth Hodge.
There has been much talk about splitting the larger electoral districts of Valley North and Valley South (districts 3 and 4) over the years, up to the time of the former Anguilla United Front Government. The plan to change the electoral boundaries was however put aside mainly due to insufficient time before the 2020 general elections; the need to obtain public support and full constitutional reform approval from the UK Government.
This is, however, the first time that there was talk about returning to the old colonial days when Anguilla was not only a colony of Great Britain, but a ‘colony’ of St. Kitts as well. Anguilla had one seat in the St. Kitts Legislature in those days, with one island-wide elected representative who was made the laughing stock by the St. Kitts politicians. Those who served during that time were: the late Walter Hodge; Kenneth Hazell; David Lloyd and Peter Adams. The late Mr. Hubert Hughes was one of the candidates who stood for island-wide election in Anguilla for the St. Kitts Legislative Council in 1961, but was unsuccessful.
Mr. Adams was not only the last of such Anguillian representatives, but that period ended while he yet served in that position. The end came with the ushering in of Associated Statehood for the then Colony of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, and Anguilla’s 1967 Revolution that eventually severed the island’s relationship with St. Kitts-Nevis and, later on, the introduction of its own electoral system as it stands today.
At the Government’s Press Conference on Monday, August 16, 2021, Mr. Kenneth Hodge, Anguilla’s Minister of Home Affairs and Constitutional Reform, made the following general announcement:
“There has been a lot going on over the past year, since we got into office, but constitutional reform, while you may not have heard much about it, a lot has been happening behind the scenes. We are now in a position to make the following announcements. In the month of September, we are going out into each of the seven electoral districts. On the second of September in district one; 6th of September in district 2; 9th of September in district 3; 13th of September, in district 4; 16th September in district 5; 20th of September, district 6; and the 27th of September, in district 7. We will be doing some town hall meetings in each of these seven districts. We want persons to come out and to re-awaken their interest in this constitutional reform exercise – and we feel that this is the best way to get persons interest again. We are giving each district full time, and we are looking at between 6 – 8pm on those evenings. We are strongly encouraging persons to take full advantage of this opportunity. Persons tend not to come out to these sessions. They stay at home and then complain that they were not involved.”
Minister Hodge continued: “We are setting up a small drafting committee that is going to put the current edition of the constitution together. We are going to prepare a new draft for discussion purposes, and are going to enlist the help of the [legal] chambers – and we are looking to complete this sometime in August or September and will be working on that assiduously.
“The other important aspect I want to bring to your attention is the whole issue of boundaries delimitation. As you know, there has been some talk about our boundaries; that our districts are not equally distributed. There has been quite a lot of discussion on this. There are a number of options that we will be putting forward…There are about five options on the table and I want to put them out to you, the listening public.
“The first one is that we do nothing. We continue as is, as we have done over the years – and to keep the seven districts just as they are and continue business as usual. The second option is that we split districts 3 and 4 into two smaller districts so that essentially gives us 9 districts. The third option is to re-distribute the 7 districts into 9. So we would utilise the software that we have available and create basically 9 new districts. There is another option to re-divide or re-distribute the 7 existing districts. We were able to get the help of a very capable civil servant – and I want to call his name – because we will be having civil servants doing really extensive work, and sometimes we need to recognise their efforts.
“Mr. Julian Hughes, who works at Physical Planning, where they have some very sophisticated software, was able to overlay, using the road networks, seven new districts along the existing 7. In September, when we come out, we will be showing you that as well. It is very exciting using the road networks – and basically distributing the districts in more equitable sizes using buildings.
“The very last option on the table is to turn Anguilla into one large island-wide district. Those were the five options that are on the table on which we will be getting feedback from you, the members of the public, as we move along.”
By way of explanation, if Anguilla were to return to the days when it was one large island-wide electoral district, it would be very different when its people voted for a local representative in the St. Kitts Legislative Council.
This time, as The Anguillian newspaper understands it, there will not be a single elected representative – and indeed it cannot be. Many persons would be able to compete as candidates. But, when all the votes are tallied, only the eleven winners would be selected for appointment to Government or Opposition positions in the Anguilla House of Assembly. This option may be the most contentious of all of the five proposed options. Let’s wait and see!
Meanwhile, the general public, in Anguilla, which has not heard much about constitutional reform recently, will soon have a lot to think and comment on when the Government holds its town hall meetings next month.
