Pledging allegiance to SVG

20.NOV.09

Editor: “I-Pledge-Allegiance to the Nation and Peoples of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Flag under which we stand – SO HELP ME GOD!” Over and above everything else in the proposed new constitution, is there a more justifiable reason to change the present constitution under which we have existed for the past thirty years?{{more}}

The second most important reason has to do with when a government loses on a vote of NO CONFIDENCE, that government should also lose the legal if not moral authority to administer our country for three months. This was the case in 1974 and is presently legal in the 1979 constitution. The memory of all that is still very fresh.

The proposed new constitution rectifies that and gives the prime minister three days to pack his baggage and go.

The third most important killer in the proposed new constitution entrenches local (municipal) government as an absolute must.

It is foolhardy to think, let alone, anticipate that a central government could respond to the daily needs, concerns and demands of every sector of our country.

Stanley M. Quammie