British to hold public consultation on its proposed constitution for the Turks & Caicos Islands

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UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to hold public consultation on its proposed constitution for the territory following suspension of democratic governance in  2009.

FCO to hold public consultation on Constitution

fp Turks and Caicos

Written by fp staff

A series of public consultation meetings on the draft Constitution will take place in the Turks and Caicos Islands between 16 and 19 May as part of the ongoing constitutional and electoral reform process., the governor’s office announced today (April 21).

The implementation of a new Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution will enable significant progress to be made against some of the milestones set for a return to elected government.

Speaking after the publication of the draft Constitution for consultation on 8 March, Minister for the Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham, encouraged Islanders to participate:

“A team of FCO representatives will hold meetings soon to give people an opportunity to discuss the proposed changes. The team will also meet community groups and leaders. I encourage all interested persons in the Islands to participate in these meetings, which will inform our final decisions on the Constitution.”

The meetings will be open to all interested persons and are planned to be broadcast on Radio Turks and Caicos.

The FCO group will be led by Ian Hendry, Overseas Territories Constitutional Adviser to the FCO. He will be joined by Helen Nellthorp, Deputy Director of Overseas Territories at the FCO, Susan Dickson, FCO Legal Counsellor and Matt Thoume, FCO Press Officer.

In addition to public meetings in different islands (details of which will follow), and meetings with members of the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum and political parties, the group will also hold roundtable discussions with community groups and stakeholder organisations.

The period for consultation on the draft Constitution will end on 28 May 2011. Written comments on the draft Constitution can be sent to the Governor’s Office, Waterloo, Grand Turk, TCI or by email to: TCIDraft.Constitution@fco.gov.uk