Mr Adderley, a prominent attorney, estimated that constitutional changes would not be a reality for another two years, as the Commission has not yet submitted its preliminary report to the government. He said following that initial report, the Commission has to submit a full report to the government, which might not happen until after the 2007 general. “There is a preliminary report of what the Constitutional Commission is contemplating. It’s not the report. The actual report will not be ready for a while because we’ll have to go back to people again,” he said.
Once the government receives both reports, Prime Minister Perry Christie would be expected to put recommendations to a referendum, similar to the Free National Movement’s February 2002 referendum. questions on constitutional changes. Those questions however, though initially approved by parliarnentarians on both sides, later became highly politicised when the then opposition Progressive Liberal Party said it had problems with the wording of the questions.
Mr Adderley said he was hoping that the future referendum would not suffer the same fate, adding “But there won’t be a referendum before the elections. There’s no question about that. The preliminary report however, will be complete before the general elections.
The Constitutional Reform Commission has been reviewing the unchanged 1973 supreme law for nearly three years. It began an, aggressive public education campaign in July 2003 with the launching of a booklet entitled “The Bahamas Constitution: Options for Change,” outlining areas where amendments to the document could be made: Between July and the end of November that year, 26,500 copies of the publication had been distributed.
Questions to be considered include: Whether The Bahamas should remain a monarchy and pledge allegiance to the British Sovereign; what changes should be made to the citizenship provisions; should the Senate be abolished; and should representation of the House of Assembly be determined by the percentage of votes polled in general elections.
Additional areas to be considered include: Whether. the executive powers of the Prime Minister should be limited; should the Privy Council in London be retained as the final Court of Appeal; should the appointment of judges be subject to the approval of Parliament; should the entrenched provisions of the Constitution be limited; and should fundamental freedoms as well as civil and political rights of the individual be strengthened.
By MINDELL SMALL Guardian Senior Reporter
