The Tribune

By SYANN THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis said Attorney General Carl Bethel’s backpedalling on the Free National Movement’s promise to implement a recall system for non-performing members of Parliament is another example of the Minnis administration reneging on its plans.

Yesterday Mr Bethel was reported as saying there are no plans to implement the recall system promised by the FNM ahead of the 2017 general election and outlined in the 2017 Speech from the Throne. Mr Bethel told the local daily such a plan was not a “workable system in the parliamentary context,” nor was it on the government’s legislative agenda.

He also said he was unaware of such legislation in any Commonwealth countries.

During the opposition’s monthly press conference, Mr Davis said the UK is an example of a country which has implemented the legislation. He accused the FNM of making promises to get elected with no plans to follow through on them.

“Again, as I have said before, just like the campaign finance reform (promise) and they are saying they don’t have to do it now. It seems they said these things to get elected. The electorate will now see that they are abandoning all of their promises,” said Mr Davis.

“I believe he went as far to say that he has not seen any legislation in any other Commonwealth countries. Well, I dare say right in Britain there’s the Recall of MPs Act 2015 and from my recollection there may be other Commonwealth countries that would have the Recall Act. Having the Attorney General of the country saying that there is nowhere in the world, you would have thought before mentioning it, they would have looked around the world to see if they have such a system. They must have seen that there is such a system and placed it in their platform.”

In its May 2017 Speech from the Throne, which outlined the Minnis administration’s five-year legislative agenda, the government noted it would seek the consent of the electorate by way of a referendum on instituting term limits for the prime minister, a recall system for non-performing members of Parliament and an independent Constituencies Commission and Electoral Commission. None of these pledges have been met as yet.

A recall system would give constituents a legal tool of recalling non-performing members of Parliament before an election is called. In the United Kingdom, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 only triggers the recall system if the MP is imprisoned for 12 months or less, suspended from the House of Commons for more than 10 days or breaks the law by providing false or misleading expense claims. According to the UK law, if 10 percent of constituents sign the petition, the MP is removed and a bye-election is called.

Commonwealth countries like Canada, New Zealand, Zambia and Jamaica have debated and canvassed citizens on the recall of MPs legislation, but have not implemented such laws. Commonwealth countries to date with a system of recalling MPs through legislation or the constitution are the UK and Uganda.