By Peter Binose

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has no Constitutional provision for a Deputy Prime Minister or even an Acting Prime Minister.

The Constitution is quite clear on that. There is not a provision for Deputy Prime Minister or an Acting Prime Minister either. There is only provision for the Governor-General to appoint an existing Minister to carry on the work of the incapacitated PM. Such Minister to be appointed during illness, incapacitation or whilst the Prime Minister is away and unable to act. That Minister is sworn in by the Governor General. There is no provision whatsoever for a temporary Acting Prime Minister or a permanent Deputy Prime Minister.

Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1979

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1979 No. 916

54. (1) Whenever the Prime Minister is absent from Saint Vincent or by reason of illness is unable to perform the functions conferred upon him by this Constitution, the Governor-General may authorize some other Minister to perform those functions (other than the functions conferred by this section) and that Minister may perform those functions until his authority is revoked by the Governor-General.

(2) The powers of the Governor-General under this section shall be exercised by him in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;

Provided that if the Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment, considers that it is impracticable to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister owing to his absence or illness he may exercise those powers without that advice and in his own deliberate judgment.

Can anyone tell me how we can have the office of a permanent Deputy Prime Minister when no such office is part of the SVG Constitution?

As there is no provision within the Constitution for such a post has the Governor General exceeded his powers by swearing in Sir Louis Straker to a position that does not exist?

If such a post is made outside the directions of the Constitution can anything signed on behalf of the Government of SVG by Straker as Deputy Prime Minister be legal?

New ministries can be invented and put into law by way of an Act, but not that of Deputy Prime Minister. That is not a new ministry, it is the alteration of the top ministry that of Prime Minister.

Shouldn’t Sir Louis Straker’s title be Assistant to the Prime Minister or even Deputy Dawg but not the unofficial official title of Deputy Prime Minister.

According to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph E Gonsalves he himself is in good health and he went to great lengths to tell Vincentians and the World that he does not have HIV or Aids. Why he would need to tell anyone that, other than a person who he is about to have sex with I do not know. If a man and wife honor each other and keep each to each other then HIV-Aids should never be an issue.

There are several ways of contracting HIV-Aids. HIV is spread from person to person via bodily fluids, such as semen, blood and breast milk. It cannot be spread by casual touch, sneezing, close proximity, insect bites, sharing cutlery or kissing. Anal sex between men to men was the most common source of the disease. But men with disease can pass it to women and women can then pass it to men. By keeping to one partner and that partner also being faithful there is no risk in catching it unless you are a drug addict that shares needles with others.

Seeing as he is in good health an acting Prime Minister is not required except when Gonsalves [prolonged] travels. The problem is Gonsalves cannot stay away from the big silver bird. He goes somewhere almost every week. The travelling bills must be horrendous for a small nation island state particularly when we are in such dire financial difficulties as we are today. I have seen recently quite a few references online to Gonsalves being a sexual predator. I sincerely hope he is not travelling the World at the taxpayers cost sexually predating. But I doubt that is true because I am sure that when his wife travels with him he would find little time to do that even if he wanted. But his wife travelling with him probably doubles and trebles the cost to the state when he has to have what some may conceive as a nanny.

The British Government recently had a Deputy Prime Minister, but the British do not have a constitution. The title Deputy Prime Minister in the UK is usually used when there is a Coalition Government, to please the other party the Prime Ministership is kind of shared. But the Deputy Prime Minster does not have all the rights that the actual Prime Minister has.

Unlike many other nations, the UK has no single constitutional document. This is sometimes expressed by stating that it has an uncodified or “unwritten” constitution. Much of the British constitution is embodied in written documents, within statutes, court judgments, works of authority and treaties.

Although England’s parliament, often called “the mother of parliaments” has existed for over seven centuries, the founding document of England’s “constitution” is generally considered to be the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of the Liberties of England, which the barons drew up and forced King John to sign in the year 1215. The spirit of this document has guided the evolution of English law over the centuries, as well as inspiring numerous constitutional documents drawn up by other countries, including notably the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Among other landmark bills that have established major new principles in the British Constitution are the English Bill of Rights, passed after the Glorious Revolution of 1689, and the Acts of Union, of 1707, establishing the linking of England and Scotland within a United Kingdom.

So having gone now in circle what is the opinions of those who know more than I about having a permanent Deputy Prime Minister when there is no call for such in the Constitution? Is it or is it not legal?

By being Deputy Prime Minister does Straker also hold the ministerial posts of Deputy Minister of Finance, Deputy Minister of National Security, Deputy Minister of Grenadines Affairs and Deputy Minister of Legal Affairs?

I just read the 2009 proposed Constitution that was rejected by the people in a referendum. There is a provision in that document for the post of Deputy Prime Minister which is evidence enough that such should be a constitutional matter.

THE SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES CONSTITUTION ACT, 2009

111. (1) In addition to the office of Prime Minister, there shall be such other offices of Minister of the Government as may be established by Parliament or, subject to the provision of any law enacted by Parliament, by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister: Provided that there shall not be more than twelve such offices of Minister of the Government other than the office of Prime Minister.

(2) One of the twelve Ministers other than the Prime Minister, referred to in the proviso to subsection (1) of this section, may be designated Deputy Prime Minister, who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.

So there folk’s is the evidence if it was needed in the 2009 constitution document when it was not in the 1979 constitution isn’t that evidence that the current Deputy Prime Minister position is outside the constitution?

Of course we should also consider if this was part of the work of Maurice Bishop the Grenadian Marxist revolutionary that Gonsalves is sworn to finish. Bishop had a Deputy Prime Minister; problem is he had Bishop killed so as there would only be one Prime Minister without a Deputy. Winston Bernard Coard was a Grenadian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister in the People’s Revolutionary Government of the New Jewel Movement. Coard launched a coup within the revolutionary government and took power for three days until he was himself deposed by General Hudson Austin.

So comrade Gonsalves I hope you have chosen your dummy Deputy Prime Minister well, Bishop did not have much success with his.

END

IMAGE: Louis Straker and his wife with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Wikipedia

DISCLAIMER: The opinion, belief and viewpoint expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinion, belief and viewpoint of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com or official policies of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com