Dominica’s former Prime Minister Edison James has lauded the electoral consultancy report of Sir Denis Baryon now being discussed.
Speaking at one of the forums at the conference room of the State House, James stated, “Consultants have come, we’ve got the Mia Mottley consultancy, Pauline Welsh and Tripeptide consultancy involving the OAS, Commonwealth, and CARICOM and they all made recommendations. Now we have the Byron (Denis) consultancy.”
He continued, “None of these consultancies that I have mentioned was presented to the public and asked to discuss them, dialogue, and make recommendations on them. The Byron report, within two days of it having been presented in its final form, was presented to the public for debate and that’s good.”
However, James stated that he “disagreed with comments stating that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit had no right to engage Sir Denis Byron.
“I have heard comments that the Prime Minister (Roosevelt Skerrit) had no right to ask or engage Mr. Byron, I don’t agree with that. There’s no constitutional or legal bar against the executive which has the responsibility for legislation so there’s no legal bar in the executive getting involved in seeking advice from whatever source,” he said.
“So, I am not subscribing to this suggestion, but I believe that there was sufficient information around on which the legislation could be based. So, Sir Byron and the people that he was around with consulting could be asked to prepare and draft the legislation, so I think there are a number of things in the Byron report that we can embrace.”
Edison James was Prime Minister of Dominica from 1995-2000 under the United Workers Party (UWP) administration.
Mr James being a former PM would agree to this consolidation of power, if you will Presidential powers, on the PM … remember NO ONE votes for the PM they vote in their constituency and if who they vote for is on the party with the most seats that leader becomes PM … Further and more particularly Caribbean Politicisns and Attorneys are completely ignorant of the fundamental aspect of the Whitehall system under which they operate &THAT IS CONVENTIONS these are age old practices that are the glue of the system Eg. Ministerial Responsibility ….BTW How many of u readers KNOW that the UK does Not have a constitution … par example there is NOTHING that says. the gov can’t hire a consultant for law that’s true ..
but the honourable gentleman from Marigot would Agree that Election Laws are a different animal … They are the process that brings one to power .. that is Y the President a la THE STATE. in His Own deliberate judgement … w/out advice chooses the Chair … further with the current majority and without a opposition would the gentleman from marigot also hold that position … (Just because U Can do it does not mean u do … the feature of integrity is to have virtue and discipline when no one is looking … The PM simply had to whisper to his appointed that this should be suggested to the commission… It Is A Sign of the dearth of understanding of this Whitehall government and legal architecture By the Very Highest Office holders .this particular one is one of the very few I admire
I am convinced that on being elected there should be a tight two week course on the constitution and the operation of the Whitehall system … for elected members .. the ignorance continues even after office and therefore can spread exponentially