Constitutional Reform talks continued to be held – at a town hall meeting in North Hill – last Thursday, September 23rd. The Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Kenneth Hodge, moderated the meeting. He was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary, Dr. Aidan Harrigan.
At that meeting, Mr. David Carty stated that the Constitution should be based on Anguilla’s inherent cultural norms, rather than being tied to the tenets of the Westminster System of governance, like that of the UK.
A former Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly, Mr. Carty was tasked with being the Chairman of the first Constitutional Reform Committee in 2002. In that context, and from his own experience, he observed that: “Constitutional Reform in Anguilla is not a ‘sexy’ issue, and it never will be.”
He continued: My advice to the Government would be to get on with it. And, if you have a draft, do what you are doing right now, and when you have finished the rounds, pass it through the House of Assembly.
“I say that not from a position of negativity, but from a position of disappointment and regret. Let me explain. Quoting from your preamble: ‘The people of Anguilla have over centuries evolved with distinct cultural identity and will.’ This is the essence of an Anguillian. Mr. Minister, this speaks to cultural identity.
“I have always argued, and will never stop, that Constitutional Reform is more than a legalistic exercise; it is a cultural analysis. In Pastor Gareth’s expressions tonight, he has made reference to a particular aspect of that cultural reality [the moral norms of marriage]. But it is far more than that. And if you base this reform on history, as the preamble makes reference to ‘centuries’, then you must make a historic analysis — not to base our constitution on something which has just recently popped up.”
Mr. Carty recounted: “The history of our region has been a history of copying ‘Massar’. When the independent, self-determination leaders of an iconic image in the Caribbean arose in the 40s, 50s and 60s, personalities such as Sir Alexander Bustamante, Norman Manley and Eric Williams, argued for self- determination and independence. When they got what they argued for, they immediately adopted a form of governance copied from the Westminster System. They did this without any form of hesitation.
“The jury is still out to say whether or not that has served us well. Certainly, we in the Caribbean have been fortunate enough in the fact that the change of governments by and large has always been a democratic one, which is a good thing for our record. However, the expression of people’s views must be regarded.
“When I was a First Nominated Member and Parliamentary Secretary in the House of Assembly, I shook my head in wonderment when, time after time, I would hear…that the role of the Opposition is to oppose. That is a direct quote from a Victorian Prime Minister, called Benjamin Disraeli, who was the prime architect of the rapid expansion of the British Empire at the turn of the 19th Century.
“Our Opposition declared that the role of the Opposition is to oppose, and it was. It was so because the Father of the Nation, just like Alexander Bustamante and Eric Williams, adopted the system of centralised power for the Executive.”
Mr. Carty made reference to the Anguilla Revolution, calling it the most unconstitutional event in the Caribbean. He said that in the constitutional exercise which he headed, he was inspired by that event to try to craft a debate for the cultural identity of Anguillians, and to see if out that form of debate could come a better form of governance that steered away from a copy of the Westminster System.
