PRIME MINISTER LESTER BIRD
ACCUSES OPPOSITION LEADER OF FOOLING FOREIGNERS
The 2nd IN THE WEEKLY RADIO BROADCAST SERIES
BY
HON LESTER B BIRD
PRIME MINISTER
OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
ON SATURDAY, 27TH SEPTEMBER 2003

Baldwin Spencer, the leader of the UPP, wants to play fast and loose with the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda - the charter that underpins the basic structure of our society.

No one should be allowed to tinker with the Constitution, particularly if that person is doing so for nothing more than a selfish political purpose.

If our society allows Mr Spencer to change entrenched clauses in the Constitution in one matter, we would have opened the door for him to try to change every section of the Constitution that he doesn't like.

The end result will be that we will wake-up one morning to find that the rights and freedoms, for which generations of our people have fought, have disappeared.

We should recall that senior members of the Opposition are already disposed to passing legislation that deprive the people of basic rights.

It was the PLM Government, the predecessor to the UPP, that enacted the Newspaper Act that tried to shut down every newspaper in this country that opposed them.

You may remember that Tim Hector used to write about this again and again, lest we forget.

The latest attempt by Baldwin Spencer and the UPP to unilaterally change the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda is contained in Mr Spencer's announcement that "a UPP administration would grant citizenship to all non-nationals legally resident in the country since January 1, 2000".

I have already said that this pronouncement from Mr Spencer is an act of political expediency.

By this I mean that, by making this brazen statement, Mr Spencer and the UPP are trying to attract the votes of non-nationals in the next general election.

The UPP has calculated that, if they promise non-nationals Citizenship quicker than the period of seven years that both the Constitution and the law require, non-nationals would vote for them.

Well, neither non-nationals nor citizens of Antigua and Barbuda should be fooled by Mr Spencer.

The Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda at Section 116 clearly explains how Commonwealth Citizens could become citizens of this country.

Commonwealth Citizens would be the majority of non-nationals here. They would come from Guyana, Jamaica, Montserraat, Dominica, the UK and Canada.

According to the Constitution, a Commonwealth Citizen would have to be lawfully resident in Antigua and Barbuda for not less than seven years immediately prior to his or her application for citizenship.

This clause in the Constitution can only be changed by a Referendum in which two-thirds of the electorate of Antigua and Barbuda vote to do so.

Section 47 (5) of the Constitution clearly sets-out this requirement for such a Referendum.

Therefore, Mr Spencer's pronouncement that his administration "would grant citizenship to all non-nationals legally resident in the country since January 1, 2000" is nothing but a false promise.

His administration could no more do such a thing than could my present government.

We would be required to introduce a Bill in parliament which would have to get majority support of both the House and the Senate, and even then we would still have to hold a Referendum and secure a majority of two-thirds of the electorate.

Mr Spencer very well knows this to be the case.

He was, therefore, either fooling the non-nationals or planning to ride rough-shod over the rights of the electorate of this country by passing a law that was unconstitutional.

Either way, his pronouncement demonstrates deceitfulness and treachery.

It is precisely because my Government wishes to provide peace of mind and a sense of security to non-nationals, who have worked hard and contributed to the development of our country, that we granted many of them amnesty.

We must recall that Mr Spencer and the UPP vigorously opposed that amnesty. Now, they suddenly do an about face, trying to grab the non-national vote.

To the Antiguans, the UPP is anti-foreigner; to the non-national, they love foreigners.

Mr Spencer must stop assuming that people are stupid. Everyone sees through his duplicity.

My friends, the Antigua Labour Party has been in the forefront of Caribbean integration for many decades.

We do not pay lip service to Caribbean integration, we take positive, legal and constitutional action.

We address the needs of non-nationals in our country, but we do so in the context of the law, the Constitution, and the rights of the citizens of our society.

My Party believes that the period for granting citizenship to our brothers and sisters from the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic, should be shorter than it is for other non-nationals from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and elsewhere.

But, we are also guided by the vital importance of upholding our nation's constitution which enshrines the rights of each individual and the society as a whole.

We may argue that case to the society as a whole, but ultimately we would act within the Constitution and let the electorate decide the matter in a referendum.

We will not violate the Constitution, however much Mr Spencer may be willing to make false promises.

Instead, we will give every opportunity to non-nationals to contribute to our society and to take their rightful place as full and equal citizens of our country in accordance with our nation's Constitution which protects them as much as it protects everyone else.

It is shameful that Mr Spencer stooped to such deceit and treachery.