Chipman: Govt putting cart before the horse

Mon, Aug 11th 2014, 11:51 PM

St. Anne's MP Hubert Chipman said yesterday the government is putting the cart before the horse in how it is handling the constitutional referendum it has scheduled for November 6.
Both he and Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn confirmed to The Nassau Guardian that they were not consulted about the bills and the questions before they were tabled in the House of Assembly two weeks ago.
"We did not see the bills. We did not know the questions," Chipman said.
"What it is I'm looking at now in this whole thing is the cart before the horse.
We have not had an opportunity to go to our constituents and see how they feel.
"The first time I saw the questions were when they were brought to the House. So we weren't able to sit down, talk about them and digest them."
Chipman said he is getting a lot of feedback from his constituents, many of whom believe that citizenship for spouses should not be automatic.
One of the constitutional amendment bills seeks to enable a Bahamian woman who marries a foreign man to pass on her Bahamian citizenship to him.
However, the bill will still outlaw marriages of convenience.
As it stands, a Bahamian man is able to pass on his citizenship to his foreign wife.
Chipman noted that by the time the Constitutional Commission holds further town meetings, the four constitutional amendment bills might already have gotten through Parliament.
Chipman said it would annoy people that the specific questions will be discussed after the bills are passed.
"How do you vote on something on behalf of your constituents without having a chance to talk to them?" Chipman asked. Lightbourn made a similar observation.

Chipman also said he is concerned about bill number four.
The bill seeks to make it unconstitutional for any law or any person acting in the performance of any public office to discriminate based on sex.
Chipman said at this stage he could not vote in favor of such a bill.
"As far as I'm concerned, it is too vague; it opens speculation as to whether it will go further on. I am not clear on four," he said.
"[I cannot support it] unless it is clarified to me."
Chipman is the latest public figure to express concern over bill number four.
Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells and Fort Charlotte MP Dr. Andre Rollins recently expressed worries about question four as well.
Both Wells and Rollins believe this could leave the door open for challenges in support of same sex marriages.
Bahamas Christian Council President Rev. Ranford Patterson has the same concern, but Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney told The Nassau Guardian abandoning question four would be to abandon the core principle upon which the other three bills are based -- equality of the sexes.
Chipman said yesterday some of his constituents have raised similar concerns about bill number three that were raised by Lightbourn, the Montagu MP.
That bill seeks to reverse the law that prohibits an unwed Bahamian man from passing his citizenship to his child if he or she is born to a foreign woman.
"People in St. Anne's constituency are asking a lot of questions," Chipman said.
"One of the things that is troubling to me is the same one that Richard has, and most of the men I've spoken with have said they don't think citizenship should be automatic. Some ladies are saying this too."
Chipman also said he has a problem with the wording of the four referendum questions on gender equality.
"As far as equality, I am 100 percent for equality for women, but we have to understand what we are voting for," he said.
"I believe the wording needs to be simplified. It is too complicated for the average Bahamian to understand."
On Friday, Government Leader in the House of Assembly Dr. Bernard Nottage also said the questions need to be simplified.
Nottage, who is also the minister responsible for elections, said the government would abandon the November 6 vote if it does not have the opposition's support.
When the bills were tabled in the House of Assembly, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis pledged the opposition's support for the measures.
"Though there is much which divides us in this place, let us speak with one voice when the issue is equality before the law," Minnis said. "Let us, Mr. Speaker, speak as one in this place.
"If we can do so, we will signal to every Bahamian and the watching world our unified commitment to the advancement of human dignity in our beloved Bahamas.
"The success of this effort will require a bold and unified, multi-partisan and multi-sectoral effort on the part, not just of the political parties, but of civil society organizations, the Constitutional Commission, as well as social, civic and religious leaders."

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