From Gerald White.
YOU have published a number of letters about the constitution of the States, but to my knowledge none has made the point that effecting a change to our constitution should surely require more than a bare majority of States’ Members present on a particular day.

Such changes should require a two-thirds majority in the States or a referendum, or both.

For that reason, I support Senator Cohen’s call for a referendum as far as it goes, but I would prefer the matter to be addressed from a broader perspective.

If the vast majority of States’ Members – the Deputies and Constables – sit there with a primary mandate to address parish issues, having made promises at parish level to secure election, what chances are there of the States taking decisions that are in the Island’s best interest where these conflict with a parish interest?

The States are the Island’s government, and should be constituted to reflect that.

They should comprise a higher, not a lower, proportion of Members whose primary mandate is to address Islandwide issues, and those who have been elected to see the wood, not the trees. That means more Senators, not fewer.