Prime Minister Mia Mottley has revealed that her party is against the idea of term limits for the head of government, despite her own personal position. However, they are in agreement in rejecting recommendations for changes to the term of office for the president.
Speaking during Tuesday’s debate on a resolution to take note of the Parliamentary Reform Commission (PRC) report, Mottley, who is set to lead the BLP into the next general election in pursuit of a third consecutive term, said she “has always believed in term limits for prime ministers and presidents”, as leadership should be rotated to give others the opportunity to serve.
However, she said, “my party, which I lead, has rejected this assertion on multiple occasions”.
“In fact, the former Leader of the Opposition, Bishop Joseph Atherley, led the battle against me on this issue in St Leonard’s School in an annual conference of the Labour Party when we were in opposition,” she noted.
“[It was] very strongly supported by the majority of persons who constituted the parliamentary party at the time, and I believe the current parliamentary party is not in favour of term limits and it is a discussion that we will continue to have in the country. But it is clearly not one in which I personally am in the majority, and I’ve had to accept that.”
The detailed PRC report, which was presented to the President last year, makes several recommendations on matters that range from the Office of the president to a code of conduct for Parliamentarians, the calling of elections, and the retention and role of the Senate.
The PRC had made a specific proposal for the president to serve a single seven-year term. But Mottley is not in agreement.
She said that position reflected her personal one and that of her MPs’ “internal discussions”.
Suggesting that there was always the possibility of mental decline by the office holder, the prime minister said that was among the reasons why she did not support a single seven-year term.
“Our own view is that the current situation of two terms of four years is preferable to a single term of seven for all kinds of reasons, including mental deterioration which sometimes is not always easy to detect, and particularly if we have persons who are in their senior years. This is the world in which we live, [and] a very real possibility.
“We have been lucky and blessed as a nation thus far but as Bajans would tell you what ain’t catch you ain’t pass you,” she said.
On the other hand, the prime minister supported the PRC’s recommendation to retain the model of a ceremonial, non-executive president.
Mottley said: “The PRC agreed to retain the titular head of state style as a president who would be elected by both Houses of Parliament. They rejected the notion of voting for a president via a popular ballot, and they rejected the notion of the president being the executive head of state.
“The PRC’s decision was based on the desire, I’m told, to save the Office of the President from the divisiveness of political campaigns and adversarial commentary that could become so acerbic as we have seen in recent times in our nation’s development.”
One other PRC recommendation that was accepted was the provision for the president to access independent legal advice, paid for by the government, in “extraordinary circumstances”, although the Solicitor General provides legal advice to the president.
“That is a very basic recommendation which we obviously could find no difficulty with as a political party or as a Cabinet,” the prime minister said.
On the contentious issue of whether Barbados should adopt fixed election dates, Mottley said the party also remains unconvinced, noting that the PRC recommended maintaining the current flexible model.
She said that while Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne “believes in fixed terms”, the idea of fixed terms, as in the United Kingdom, did not change “the right and power of a prime minister so to call an election” and so, “to that extent, the Barbados Labour Party – parliamentary party – did not see the necessity to change in that sense”.
“But, as I said, this is a matter that we want to hear other views on before finally settling upon,” the prime minister stressed. (IMC1)
The Parliamentary Reform Commission
On Tuesday, the Parliament of Barbados, through a resolution tabled by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, formally took note of the Report of the Parliamentary Reform Commission (PRC).
The Commission’s recommendations in the 200-page document covered eight broad areas which included The President, the Electoral System, the Senate, the House of Assembly, Code of Conduct, the Administration of Parliament, Terms and Conditions of Parliamentary Service, and Security of Parliament. The document is available online at PRC Report 2024 INSIDE Revised.
PRC, appointed on May 8, 2023, was tasked with examining and making recommendations on the modernisation and strengthening of the nation’s parliamentary framework. The appointed Commissioners were:
– Richard L Cheltenham – Chairman
– Sir LeRoy C Trotman – Deputy Chairman
– Ambassador H Elizabeth Thompson
– Dr Richard Ishmael
– Maxine McClean
– Corey Beckles
– Dr William Chandler Jr
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