Sacc president gives personal backing to right to recall law
THERE is an awful lot more that could be done to keep ‘the people’ as part of the government, the president of the States’ Assembly & Constitution Committee has said.
Deputy Neil Inder tweeted in response to fellow deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen who wanted to explore how a recall mechanism could be used in Guernsey.
The idea of a recall election means voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before that official’s term has ended.
In the UK, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 came into force in March 2016. A petition officer will open a recall petition after the Speaker of the House of Commons notifies them that an MP has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence, barred from the House of Commons for 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days or convicted of providing false or misleading information for allowance claims.
The debate on Twitter was sparked by user @ManxRepublic who wrote: ‘Hope 2020 becomes a year of democracy with the introduction of a recall mechanism.’
Deputy Dudley-Owen said that idea was interesting and was used to remove a Labour MP a couple of years ago. ‘I would like to explore how that could be used here in Guernsey,’ she wrote.
As president of the committee responsible for reviewing procedures in connection with the island’s constitution and government, Deputy Inder replied: ‘There’s an awful lot more Sacc could do to keep the people as part of the government. Post any election, currently, that’s it – you voted, fingers crossed.’
However, he later told the Guernsey Press that it would be something for a future Sacc to look into as his committee is only dealing with items already ‘on their table’ with the 2020 election fast approaching.
Personally he believed the ability to expel a deputy would be valuable, but he could not say that on behalf of the committee.
‘I think a recall mechanism is something that the States will have in the future, it’s a move towards direct democracy,’ he said.
‘I’d also like to see time limits imposed on deputies, such as a maximum service of 10 or 12 years.’
Currently, Guernsey law states that deputies can only be removed from office before the end of their term if they resign, are found to not be eligible, are sentenced for an offence for six months or more or are absent from their duties for 12 months at a time.
