As we move into the third week of the New Year it appears from The Hon Cora Richardson-Hodge’s statement in the House of Assembly on 9th January that government is persisting in its attempt to persuade the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to approve draft legislation to change the Anguilla Constitution piecemeal, for its own electoral advantage. The Honorable Minister of Home Affairs stated that “We have received word that the provisions of the draft Order in Council are acceptable and we believe that the next step is for it to go forward to the Privy Council. We immediately will also begin work on the larger constitutional reform, meaning the entire Constitution, and we are aware and we appreciate the work once again of the Constitutional Committee that had been established under this government and we shall be moving forward with discussions and negotiations with the UK government throughout this year in terms of bringing in force a full wholesale constitutional reform for the people of Anguilla…..”
When hearing these words one should pay attention to the use of the word “we.” Why is it that the Minister just refers to the executive Government and does not include in the prospective discussions “we the people of Anguilla, we the entire House of Assembly, we the Constitutional Reform Committee leaders, we the opposing parties in Anguilla”? It is clearly the government’s objective to continue to pursue the Draft Order in Council, notwithstanding the widespread opposition to it that I have recorded in these columns previously.
After asking about updates on the Constitution in the House of Assembly last year, I was told that the draft Order in Council could not be accepted at the Privy Council until possibly January. However no further consultation with me, the people, nor the other opposition parties has occurred. It is clear that the Government of Anguilla has an agenda and they will do whatever it takes, including consulting with constitutional experts and government representatives in the UK, before going back to the people of Anguilla.
As the Leader of Opposition, I have made it my civic duty to hold the Anguillian and UK governments accountable when progressing policies and legislative proposals. Consistently with this, I wrote again to the British Minister, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, on 12th January 2019, to ensure that our voices are heard and to reject the proposals for an Order in Council dealing with selective issues calculated to advance the electoral prospects of the ruling party when the next election occurs.
It should go without saying that British Overseas Territories must be respected on a consistent basis. The Leader of the Opposition in Turks and Caicos opposed constitutional amendments and was able to make the lack of accord among the people known to the UK Government. Lord Ahmad stated that the Leader of Opposition and his party’s rejection of the Turks constitutional proposals would mean that he could not consider them until there is cross party agreement.
These standards need to be equivalent across the board for the British Overseas Territories. So a lack of cross-party agreement in Anguilla should halt the further development of the Order in Council. I have reason to hope and expect that the UK government will have heeded the objections I have advanced and, if so, Minister Richardson-Hodge’s statement in the House that “the provisions of the draft Order in Council are acceptable“, was incorrect, whether or not intentionally.
There is a saying that if you put a frog in hot water, he’ll jump out. But if you increase the heat slowly, he won’t realize the danger until it’s too late. Let us not be that frog.
It is time for transparency, transparency, transparency.
