Submission 50

Sent: Thursday, November 3, 2022
To: ConstitutionalReform
Subject: Governance and political institutions

Dear all;

I wish to make a few simple points for improved governance in our land through the revised constitution:
- establish a Parliamentary Authority which will act as the regulatory agency for Members of Parliament and political parties. It's role is to monitor election campaigns, spending of public funds by MPs and political parties, deal with criminal and civil matters and any such issues as absenteeism from sittings or constituency offices. The Speaker should be the person to refer

MPs to the Authority and the public should have means to raise complaints as well
- entrench a number of posts in the constitution to remove political interference and influence...Auditor General, Accountant General, Contractor General, Infrastructure Director
- allow for Barbadian citizens overseas to vote and by extension allow for voting by proxy and through electronic means.
- remove appointment for life for public officers and instead entrench principles for hiring and firing of public servants.

I will pause there.

As a concerned citizen, I believe our civil service needs to be repositioned to serve the public and not the political population. Too often, laws and regulations are subverted or ignored by political interference which then leads to members of the public feeling disadvantaged and seeking to do the same illegal activity since tacit approval is seen to be given when politics negates enforcement of laws.

I wish you well in your deliberations and I thank you for your service.

Kind Regards