The Constitutional Review Committee, Is This a Case of Déjà Vu?

We should applaud Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre for establishing a constitution review committee, in keeping with his campaign pledge of constitutional reform.

The Constitutional Review Committee convened its first meeting in the Parliament Chamber on March 6, 2024. The first order of business was to elect a Chair and Deputy Chair. Hon. Claudius Francis was elected Chair of the Committee. Mr. Ignatius Jean was elected Deputy Chair.

The Constitutional Review Committee was appointed in December 2023. It comprises 12 members, including nominees from the Government, the Opposition and civil society representatives.

The names of the Committee members are as follows: Hon. Claudius Francis (Chairperson), Mr Ignatius Jean (Deputy Chairperson), Mr Everistus Jn Marie, Mr Earl Huntley, Ms Catherine Sealys, Professor Cynthia Barrow, Mr Maurice Compton, Mr Nicholas John, Mr Lenard Montoute, Ms Mary Francis, Hon. Bradley Felix, and Hon. Allen Chastanet.

The Committee is charged with providing advice on recommendations from the 190–point document submitted by the late Justice Suzie D’auvergne and her team in 2011.

The choice of Chairperson for the Constitutional Review Committee is unfortune because he doesn’t believe that the structure of government affects its performance. Yet the whole idea of constitutional reform is about tweaking the structure of government.

Nonetheless, while we applaud the establishment of the constitutional review committee, we will be keeping our fingers crossed that it isn’t a case of déjà vu.

Why the allusion to déjà vu?

Well, in 2001, riding high on an unprecedented consecutive landslide election victories, the Kenny Anthony government, of which Philip J. Pierre was a prominent member, established a Constitutional Reform Commission in 2005 to, yes, “review and reform” the constitution to make government a more democratic, accountable, participatory and inclusive institution.

The 348-page report of the Constitutional Reform Commission, which Prime Minister Pierre’s newly appointed review committee is charged with examining for possible implementation, and which provided a conscientious overhaul of St. Lucia’s constitution, was rejected by unanimous vote (17-0) in the House of Assembly in 2015 when the very administration that had decreed the Commission was the one in power.

This travesty is a testament to my often-stated tenet that failure to solve the nation’s pressing problems is more a matter of will and desire than a matter of know-how or resources.

The prime minister strikes me as a man who tries to do the right things. By buying into the CCJ as our court of last resort, and decreeing the 2023 Constitutional Review Committee, the prime minister has demonstrated that he has the desire for constitutional reform. But whether he also has the will and thus avoid a déjà vu is left to be seen.

Still, to cover all the bases and eliminate know-how or lack of understanding as an excuse for not adopting the recommendations of the 2011 Constitutional Reform Commission, we refer the current review committee and the prime minister, and indeed all St. Lucians and citizens of parliamentary governments interested in the governance of their country, to take a read of Dr. Stephen Kings impassioned article, Enough is Enough, on constitutional reform, and also grab a copy of No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia for an exposition (particularly Chapter 16) of how the recommendations of the Commission would transform government into a more inclusive political and economic institution, thus leading to an improvement in the governance of the country regardless of which party is in power.

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