{"id":215381,"date":"2024-11-03T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T03:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=215381"},"modified":"2024-11-03T19:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T23:04:44","slug":"st-vincent-passes-legislation-allowing-public-servants-to-contest-elections-without-fear-of-job-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-vincent-passes-legislation-allowing-public-servants-to-contest-elections-without-fear-of-job-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Vincent passes legislation allowing public servants to contest elections without fear of job loss"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CMC- The recent legislation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines allowing public servants to run for elections without losing their employment or benefits marks a significant shift in political participation. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves emphasized that this change has been in consideration since the country\u2019s independence in 1979.<\/p>

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Historically, there were calls to enable individuals in various public sectors, such as education, law enforcement, and healthcare, to engage in the electoral process without the fear of jeopardizing their jobs. The bipartisan support for this amendment reflects a broader commitment to enhance democratic participation and encourage more individuals to contribute to governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gonsalves, who is also the Minister of National Security, said it was clear that no one \u201cwho is clothed with authority in respect of security\u201d should be allowed to contest elections.<\/p>

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Among these, he mentioned police officers, Maritime Administration staff or offices \u201cwhere you can use your authority to do something with an individual\u2019s liberty or with their property\u201d.<\/p>

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He told legislators that the \u201cnarrow group\u201d of public servants to be barred from contesting elections also includes legal officers and people in senior positions in the government, such as permanent secretaries and heads of departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Advertisement –<\/p>

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Despite the change in the law, magistrates, registrars, legal officers, the deputy director of audits, deputy accountant general, deputy controller of customs and exercise, the deputy comptroller of inland revenue, the deputy supervisor of elections and the director of Maritime Administration are barred from contesting national elections without resigning their posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diplomats, assistant directors of public prosecution, the chief agricultural officer, the chief engineer, the chief education officer and other senior positions \u201call the way down to Supervisor of Elections\u201d also cannot contest national elections without resigning their posts.<\/p>

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A public servant who wishes to contest an election must be absent on leave during the election. To do so, they can take accrued leave or leave without pay.<\/p>

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Gonsalves said that with the change in the law, a qualifying public sector worker who takes leave to contest a general election and is elected to office would be taken to have retired from the public office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the pension laws will be amended to take account of the years of service that the person had provided before being elected to Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo the law itself is saying you\u2019ll get the benefits,\u201d Gonsalves said, adding \u201cIf you\u2019re not elected, you go back to your job if you want to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he said some people might decide not to return to the public service post, depending on the number of years they had served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill had been sent to a select committee of Parliament and Gonsalves said lawmakers had tried \u201cto give the widest and most purposive legal clothing to the principles which were just outlined\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that none of the previous governments had changed the law to allow public servants to contest elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, we are breaking new ground in St Vincent and Grenadines, and we are enlarging the pool of persons from whom to be drawn as possible candidates,\u201d Gonsalves said, adding that lawmakers may have to amend the law in the future, depending on the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe may have to come back here at some time in the future to see whether the categories we have are too large, as experience teaches, or too narrow,\u201d he said, noting that Cabinet cannot make such changes by executive action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I believe that most persons would say we have had a balance in this legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Gonsalves said he was disappointed that neither the Public Service Union nor the St Vincent the Grenadines Teachers Union had commented on the legislation, adding that it had been published in the newspapers and online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the unions did not even ask to attend the select committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt may well be because they agreed with it, they said, \u2018Well, there\u2019s no need.\u2019 I assume that\u2019s a default situation. But a matter of this importance, it would have been pleasing to have a memo saying, \u2018We agree with this principle or the principles behind the bill, and they may have some differences, here and there, and they would like to come.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut that didn\u2019t come to the select committee. But that did not happen. But here we are,\u201d Gonsalves said, listing public servants dating back to 1972, when Alfonso Dennie, then a principal, lost all his benefits after contesting national elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Girlyn Miguel, a former educator quit her job as a principal and became deputy prime minister after being elected to Parliament, and the current deputy prime minister,  Montgomery Daniel under his Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 Fortuitously, in each of these cases, they served long enough time in Parliament to get a parliamentarians pension,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime minister noted that former educators, Terrance Ollivierre, the MP for the Southern Grenadines and Roland \u201cPatel\u201d Matthews, a former MP for North Leeward,  both of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), also lost all their benefits when they quit their jobs and became election candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gonsalves, however, noted the case of the \u2018Three NDP Teachers\u2019 \u2014 the late Elvis Daniel, Kenroy Johnson and Addision \u201cBash\u201d Thomas, who were forced to resign to contest the 2010 general elections for the opposition party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teachers had sought to rely on a collective bargaining agreement that Gonsalves\u2019 ULP administration, which the prime minister had witnessed, had signed with the Teachers\u2019 Union in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement provided for teachers to take six months\u2019 unpaid election leave and to resume their positions if they lost the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when they sought election leave under that agreement, the Public Service Commission pointed them to the section of the Constitution that bars public officers from contesting general elections unless exempted by Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gonsalves then said that the election leave provision was \u201caspirational\u201d and the union knew that when it signed it. However, the union took the government to court and won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, early in our administration, there was an aspirational clause in an agreement with the teachers union and that aspirational clause was not affected in law, because the Constitution provides that what we are doing today could have been done,\u201d Gonsalves told legislators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, we have come to it now. And I believe that everyone in this house supports the propositions behind this legislation. There may be cribbles here and there, as to whether this position should have been included or excluded,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CMC- The recent legislation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines allowing public servants to run for elections without losing their employment or benefits marks a significant shift in political participation. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves emphasized that this change has been in consideration since the country\u2019s independence in 1979. Historically, there were calls to enable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":215382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSt. Vincent passes legislation allowing public servants to contest elections without fear of job loss - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-vincent-passes-legislation-allowing-public-servants-to-contest-elections-without-fear-of-job-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Vincent passes legislation allowing public servants to contest elections without fear of job loss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CMC- The recent legislation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines allowing public servants to run for elections without losing their employment or benefits marks a significant shift in political participation. 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