GOVERNANCE
Both St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada have made unsuccessful attempts to amend their constitutions in recent years. In fact, Professor Barrow-Giles said very little change had taken place since she wrote a paper in 2010 titled “Regional Trends in Constitutional Developments in the Commonwealth Caribbean” that explored constitutional re-engineering in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The paper was one of her many publications. She has authored, co-authored and co-edited several books, and book chapters, and published in peer-reviewed journals about democracy and elections. An award winner of two of The UWI’s highest distinctions—the Vice- Chancellor’s Award and Cave Hill’s Principal’s Award for Excellence — both for public service, the expert has been part of election observer missions to countries in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The professor is a former member of St Lucia’s Constitutional Reform Commission, advisor to Barbados’s Republican Status Transition Advisory Committee and currently serves as Secretary to the Constitutional Reform Commission in Barbados. She stated that most countries in the Caribbean have maintained high levels of civil liberties, political rights, and peaceful transitions during periods of regime change. However, Professor Barrow-Giles was critical of the lack of positive response by many Caribbean governments to CRC reports. “I now, unfortunately, have drawn the conclusion that the process and outcome of Caribbean constitutional reform are not buttressed by big visions and the need to transform relations. They are not necessarily processes that aim for remaking our constitutional fabric, and they are not always even processes that aim for obvious amendments that present themselves time and time again, nor are the processes always defined by
Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles and moderator Dr. Tennyson Joseph , former Senior Lecturer in Political Science
substantive discussions of critical issues. If anything, I would say that some processes are marked by too many limitations and narrow elite and politically controlled objectives of the post-colonial political elites.” She said she was heartened by attempts to have ordinary citizens be central to the process in some countries even though some governments remained wary due to the perceived political risks, particularly in cases where referendums were mandated. “Often reform that is necessary can be killed by the referendum which has led some critics to describe the referendum as an ‘odious mockery’ and handcuffs that shackle. Others contend that on closer inspection, the referendum should be maintained given our understanding of the democratic principle. It is, too, part of the amending procedure in most Caribbean jurisdictions, and therefore, binding on a government seeking major revision or dismemberment of the constitution, and that is, of course, critical to legal constitutionalism,” she said.
And while the expert encouraged bipartisanship, she also issued words of caution: “It is not a panacea for success as St. Vincent and the Grenadines clearly shows. It has not always been consistent and especially so at the tail end of the process. So, while it is useful to be cautiously optimistic that toning down the adversarial nature of Westminster politics in the context of much-needed constitutional reform is healthy and good, our history has shown that it can die a rather quick but painful death. “The fact is we cannot continue to be scrupulous observers and retainers of the present governance arrangements when reform is required. Indeed, ring-fencing the system is not in the best interest of the nation. For the most part, this is what has occurred; and history will repeat itself if we are not fearless, if the public does not vigorously voice its disquiet with the present circumstance, and if the political elite does not see the value of reform.”
CHILL NEWS 108
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