House favours non-executive President

St Vincent and the Grenadines seems set to have a non-executive president as its Head of State when the new constitution is unveiled in 2009.

Legislators earlier this week debated the final report of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), which was presented to parliament in September of 2006.{{more}}

The report is the framework for debates after which a new constitution will be drafted, voted on in parliament then put to a referendum of the electorate before becoming law.

The moving away from the British Monarchy as the Head of State is a central recommendation in the report and today all the participants in the debate including Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace supported that move.

Dr Gonsalves said that the overwhelming majority of the population is of the view that “St Vincent and the Grenadines should complete the process of national independence by terminating the British Monarch as its Head of State.”

He however objected to the CRC’s recommendation that the President’s term in office should be unlimited save that he should retire at the age of 75 or is shown to be mentally or physically unfit.

Dr Gonsalves said that he believes that the president should have a fixed term and suggested two terms of about four years each. Under the current constitution, the British Monarch is represented by the Governor General.

Meanwhile Deputy Prime Minister Sir Louis Straker said that he has asked Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to pay a visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines when he had an audience with her in May last year.

He however also supports the removal of the Queen as the Head of State and moving towards the creation of a position for a non-executive president. (KJ)