THE UWI Open Campus Saint Lucia will tonight host a lecture entitled “The Westminster-Whitehall Model in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Resistance to Change”
The lecture which begins at 7:00 p.m. will be delivered by Dr. Hamid Ghany, Senior Lecturer in Political Science and Coordinator of the Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, The UWI St. Augustine Campus.
The fundamental argument that Dr Ghany will construct is the philosophical issue of whether or not the Commonwealth Caribbean’s constitutional foundations are indigenous or imported.
The differences between the major features of the Westminster-Whitehall constitutions of the Commonwealth Caribbean and the original Westminster model itself in the United Kingdom will be discussed, leading to an understanding of the unique constitutional architecture that adorns the Commonwealth Caribbean constitutional landscape, exemplified in the legislatures, executives and judiciaries of the region.
Dr Ghany will posit that it is these differences that explain why Constitutional Reform is often met with resistance when it is time for action-because what we have is indigenous by virtue of evolution and was not imported “brand new” at Independence.
An engaging speaker, Dr.Ghany’s chosen topic is guaranteed to be thought provoking and the source of much lively discussion and debate following the lecture.