Let's have a referendum on the Clothier proposals

From Robin Pittman.

IT is not only the utility of Sir Philip Bailhache’s fact-finding visit to Barbados that is open to question but also the whole existence and purpose of the Electoral Commission that he is now chairing.

Perhaps it would be more worthwhile to revisit the Clothier Report, published in December 2000. Incidentally it was the intervention of Sir Philip, then Bailiff, that contributed to the rejection of most of Clothier’s recommendations.

The Clothier commission was possibly more high-powered and more representative than the current group chaired by Sir Philip. Islanders on it included John Henwood, Dr John Kelleher, David Le Quesne, Anne Perchard and Colin Powell. It was chaired by Sir Cecil Clothier, distinguished judge and ombudsman, and included a former head of Northern Ireland’s civil service and a former university vice-chancellor. It did not include States Members; they could possibly have had an interest in preserving the status quo.

Clothier’s terms of reference were wide and included the composition, operation and effectiveness of the States’ Assembly. It carried out market research into the views of Jersey’s population and received a massive number of written submissions from the public and interviewed most of those who sent them in.

The fact is that the work of Sir Philip’s commission was already completed more than a decade ago. Clothier’s recommendations concerning our electoral system, the size of the States, the place in the States of the Constables and the presiding role of the Bailiff should be put to an Island referendum.