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Turn the problem upside down
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From Basil Lelliott.
I SEE the dispute over who should, and who shouldn’t, be entitled to sit on the benches of the States Chamber has reared its head again, a problem that seems unsolvable. Senators out? Constables out?
Too many States Members? Round and round we go again, and it’s the parish Deputies that seem to shout the loudest.
Well, I was always taught: if there is a problem you cannot solve, turn it upside down, and look at it from another angle. So, let’s take a look.
Senators: Islandwide vote = a good thing.
Constables: Parish-wide vote = a good thing.
Deputies: An insignificant number of votes from, in some cases, a small parish, or an even smaller district from a parish. Leaving most Islanders without a vote in their election = a bad thing.
Even the title Deputy, for a people’s representative, sounds wrong; it suggests someone acting under the guidance of a headman. So terminate the position of Deputies.
Now, Senators’ Islandwide vote = a good thing. Problem. If you increase the number of Senators there will not be enough room at the hustings to accommodate all the candidates. Answer: Cut the Island into two – east and west. Six eastern parishes with 15 Senators and six western parishes with 15 Senators. A total of 30 Senators whom thousands could vote for, unlike Deputies whom only hundreds of electors can vote for.
The Constables: Parish-wide vote = a good thing. They represent the feelings of the people of the parish and should be upholding the traditions and culture of the Island. After all, if you like the Island enough to live here, you hardly want to change it too much.
I believe that with the Deputies gone, the Constables’ elections would become more attractive, with a larger amount of people coming forward to stand for that position.
So we are now in the position of 15 eastern Senators and 15 western Senators. A total of 30 Senators plus 12 Constables = 42 States Members. Now you could either cut the remaining seats, thus gaining a saving in money, or have the remaining number of Members stand in all-Island elections, in order to be in a position to gain a ministerial seat. From which the States Members themselves could choose who to elect into high office.
Of course I submit this knowing it’s not the ideal answer, but I think it’s closer to democracy than we have now. Whether it gets considered by those in power or not depends how much they pay lip service to the meaning of the word democracy.
If they need any help in understanding the meaning of the word, it is: ‘Government in which the supreme power is held by the people.’
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