Government
New Boundaries, More MPs and No Appointed Members expected in Constitutional Changes says Premier
Deandrea Hamilton and Dana Malcolm
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, December 21, 2023 – The next General Election in the Turks and Caicos Islands will likely feature more candidates, more constituencies, and an elimination of the appointed members to the House of Assembly; in anticipation of the UK-approved constitutional changes, the PNP Government administration has allocated an additional $100,000 for the TCI Electoral Boundaries Commission in its most recent Budget supplementary.
“We have had some advanced indication from the United Kingdom. It’s very clear what they will grant in terms of a constitutional amendment on four points. The rest of the proposals, we are waiting for at the moment, and I have just asked Her Excellency to put some urgency behind London so we will get that soon. Because there will be potentially– a number of amendments that will have to be made before the election, including the establishment of a boundaries commission, and the review of the boundaries; and those monies are there in anticipation of that happening,” Misick said.
David Rutley, Minister for the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, had agreed to fast-track three amendments to the constitution during the Joint Ministerial Council held in London in November. Namely, amendments that deal with the length of a parliamentary term, changing the name of the parliament and removing the appointed members. As Misick noted, it is anticipated that those changes will be made, but not certain. It is part of a raft of amendments the TCI Governing and Opposition parties presented to the UK after a country-wide constitutional consultation.
Currently, the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands appoints two members to the parliament, with the governing and opposition parties putting forth one person each for a total of four individuals.
There are still no definitive answers on whether the Turks and Caicos Islands will see the appointed members removed and the parliament renamed or if a longer parliamentary term will be approved before the next elections which are constitutionally due in 2025. But just in case, the government has furnished the process with $100,000 in order to fund the Boundaries Commission, which would undertake, the often arduous process of drawing up new constituency lines. Those constituencies will determine where votes will be cast for the new elected members of
parliament who would replace the appointed members. If not, Misick said the electoral boundaries will be addressed regardless.
“We can’t presume exactly what the final decision is going to be even though we are fairly clear that the boundaries issue will be addressed. Whether it is addressed or not– we would still have to deal with the Boundaries’ Review because the Ordinance speaks to the proportionality and numbers of people and the different peculiarities of the different islands and the constituency boundaries so those funds are placed here regardless.”
He was referring to a 2021 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association report following its observations in the February 2021 General Elections. The CPA’s report cited that boundaries demanded equal numbers of constituents in each district, and that the work on balancing the districts should be completed within four years.
A Budget Supplementary presented and passed in the House on December 13 included the new allocation, announced by E. Jay Saunders, the Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier; it prompted the question from Edwin Astwood, Leader of the Opposition, regarding the legislative changes.
“I see allocations to the Boundary Commission and I will be writing to the Honorable Premier and probably the Governor seeking clarification. Are we intending [to] do the boundaries exercise and getting those four additional seats in?”
Under Washington Misick, a special constitutional attorney, Jeffery Jowell, was hired to progress a long-standing suite of amendments which despite having been ratified in the public domain since 2014 and supported by a bi-partisan Review Committee, were under threat of dying on the vine.
It was clear that more tenacious action was required and with the support of the House of Assembly, the expert mediator and litigator, having had success in the Cayman Islands was brought in to navigate a restoration of some powers to the elected government.
It has helped that there is a distinctive shift in tone from the British, expressed through successive governors that there is an appetite to acquiesce and action some of the desires of the TCI people as revealed in the constitutional consultations. Additionally, an admirable demonstration by the elected officials spanning 2012 to now in conducting country affairs in line with UK-established good governance principles meant there was no need for Mother England to continue to hold on so tightly to the reins.
Now, an eighth Cabinet minister has been added, the Turks and Caicos elected government is part of Crown Land management and the UK is open to new boundaries which will increase the share of members of parliament who are hired by the electorate through a vote, versus appointed by the British governor or the two political parties.
The Premier said the UK had been clear on what they would grant; however, the country was still awaiting decisions on the remaining areas of interest. Misick, in an effort to follow through, has made a request of the Governor, to speed up the process.
“We are expecting to have a finalized position from the UK, certainly I am hoping early in the first quarter of next year.”
Premier Washington Misick was speaking in parliament during the recent Supplementary Appropriation Bill debate on Wednesday, Dec 13.
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