Tuesday, August 1, 2006

GRAND TURK, Turks & Caicos Islands: The Turks & Caicos Islands will soon celebrate an historic moment when the country takes another step towards full internal self government.

Chief Minister Dr Michael Misick and Deputy Chief Minister Floyd Hall will be sworn in as Premier and Deputy Premier respectively, on Wednesday August 9, 2006. A number of Heads of States or their representatives and other dignitaries from CARICOM are expected to be in attendance.

A new constitution which has been signed by Her Majesty the Queen is presently laid before Parliament and will come into effect on August 9, 2006.

At a recent meeting of the Legislative Council Misick called for a debate on the Constitution. He referred to advancements made by his government in moving the constitution forward as “a promise made, a promise kept’.

The Constitution Modernization Committee was appointed in 1999 under the previous administration as part of the process whereby Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) was conducting a modernization of all the constitutions of the Overseas Territories.

The committee held a number of meetings throughout the islands and its report was debated in the Legislature in October 2000.

Significant advancements were made in April of this year when a draft constitution was sent to the Office of the Chief Minister. The public was engaged in the discussion processes through organized town hall meetings. The draft constitution was laid before the Legislative Council in May and just last month was debated upon and the results of the vote taken were forwarded to the Foreign Commonwealth Office.

The new constitution to be adopted as signed by order of the Assembly and the Privy Council was communicated to the Governor, Richard Tauwhare on the July 19, 2006.

To mark this special day in Turks and Caicos history, Wednesday August 9 has been declared a public holiday.

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