thisisguernsey.com

CONFIRMATION from retiring deputy Tom Le Pelley that he was in a minority when the emergency meeting of the States Assembly and Constitution Committee decided to seek a change in the rules governing the election of a new chief minister also reinforces the concerns that just two members have engineered a situation in which they [...]

AS ATTENTION focuses on the election on 1 May for the island’s next chief minister there is a danger that an equally important role will be overlooked: that of deputy chief minister.

IT WAS timed to come out just before 9am yesterday. But news that Chief Minister Lyndon Trott was no longer seeking re-election was strong enough for the BBC to decide to ignore the strict embargo on it.

LEAVING aside for a moment the concerns that the current chief minister would be somehow damaged if he did not face an election involving deputy-elect Peter Harwood, there are some other difficulties to face with the proposed scrapping of the four-year rule.

THERE is something disturbing about the notion of changing the States rules of procedure on the fly to make deputy-elect Peter Harwood eligible as a candidate for the role of chief minister.

FOR the first time in history, Guernsey’s States members will have the opportunity to re-elect a chief minister – or select a replacement for the only individual to survive a full term.

AS THE dust settles on what – given the challenges to the economy combined with external influences – is likely to be the most significant general election for a generation, the demand for change is palpable.

IT TAKES just a few minutes every four years, yet casting a vote in today’s general election will have an impact on generations to come.

IF ONLY it was always like this.

IT was a tragedy of such scale and significance that, even now, 100 years on, the sinking of the Titanic still remains an unforgettable moment in maritime history.