The Tribune

By RAHSAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FNM Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner has urged the Christie administration to specify its intentions for the constitutional referendum on gender equality as the proposed November 6 date for the vote gets nearer.

She said the government needs to stop waffling on the matter and quickly announce if the vote will be delayed as many suspect. She said delaying the vote may be in the government’s best interest, adding that while she supports the referendum, the Christie administration has not handled the process properly.

The government’s Constitutional Referendum Bills have yet to be passed in Parliament and are currently in the committee stage.

This, along with concerns about the public’s reaction to the bills, have prompted some observers to recommend that the government postpone the referendum.

Speaking to reporters last week, Prime Minister Perry Christie confirmed that his government is considering this option.

However, Mrs Butler-Turner said yesterday his administration must reveal its intentions on the matter as soon as possible.

“My understanding was on Wednesday past (September 10), we were actually supposed to be voting on the new amendments in the House of Assembly,” she said. “Obviously we were dealing with the gambling bill. I might have missed the update on the issue if it was given, but they have now gone into consultations with the church and some civil organisations.

“I’m not the contact person for the Constitutional Commission so I’m sitting on the side waiting to see what they are coming back with. I think it’s going to be in the interest of the government to consider delaying the referendum but that’s their call. I think the process was wrong from the start. They should have done the consultations from the beginning.

“My position on the matter is clear. The government didn’t do the process correctly in the first instance. This is their referendum and whatever they do they have to make the calculations. I’m committed to the cause regardless.”

Mrs Butler-Turner expressed displeasure with the Christie administration’s “indecision” on the matter.

“They have to be very explicit to the community as to what’s going on,” she said, adding she is not surprised that the government must now make a difficult decision about whether to postpone the referendum or keep its proposed date. 

“I felt this same thing would happen,” she said. “These very weighty issues we’ve been dealing with recently, from the referendum to Value Added Tax to gambling. These are very heavy issues. I just figured it would be a huge distraction for any of them to have them dealt with in such a short period of time. “It seems the government is executing its legislative agenda in a very poor fashion. They are not giving people a chance to digest and consult with their constituencies. People are trying to wrap minds around what the cost of living will be come January. They are trying to wrap their minds around the gambling bill.

“There is lots of confusion because people aren’t sure about the referendum, whether it’s binding or not because of what the government did with gaming. And yet all these issues have been dealt with in a month in Parliament.”