Call to expand President’s term and expand their powers Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

It has been suggested that the new Constitution of Barbados explore expanding the tenure and powers of the President.

The recommendation came from attorney-at-law and former leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza on Sunday, October 30 at a public meeting with the Constitutional Reform Commission at The Alexandra School.

We need someone who is doing more

While lauding the President’s visits to centenarians as a “nice” initiative, De Peiza contended that the President should be more than a figurehead but have “an active role”. She proposed that the Reform Commission examine France’s model where the President is the constitutional head of state with executive powers.

“Let’s face it, I don’t think it would ever be the intention of the Barbadian public to simply replace one figurehead with another so I would like us to move from a point where we are also speaking to a president who has an executive function and it is not just a functionary. I don’t think we need it in a society this small and I don’t think it is really a promotion of democracy to have a figurehead as a head of state,” De Peiza emphasised.

consider a term of seven years instead, that does not collide immediately with a five-year parliamentary term

“We need someone who is doing more – even though it is nice – than visiting our centenarians….but there must be some actual duties for our president,” she added.

De Peiza also proposed that the President’s tenure be extended from four years to seven years. She indicated that the four-year term coincided with the parliamentary term and did no justice to accurately enforcing democracy.

“We put a president in place and gave her a term that really and truly does not do justice to our democracy because the term of four years is way too close to our political term and if there is one thing we should do in our Constitution is to insulate our head of state from political interference.

“It is not a new idea but it is one that I want the constitution to take on board and consider a term of seven years instead, that does not collide immediately with a five-year parliamentary term but it allows a president to not only seem to be independent but to actually be independent of mind,” she held.

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