This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.
Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.
PERSONAL STATEMENTS
The Bailiff :
We move on to J - Personal Statements and Deputy Le Claire wishes to make a personal statement.
5. Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire:
Having discussed the issue of voting rights for 16-year olds with the Deputy of Grouville and in consideration of my proposition before the Assembly P.166/2006 set down for debate on 27th March 2007, the Deputy of Grouville and I have decided that, given the research the Deputy has done and continues to do on the matter, these proposals would be better tabled by her. She is also an Assistant Minister for Education, Sport and Culture so may be better placed to undertake the research required. In considering whether or not to continue to debate my proposals as planned, I took the following into consideration. The first thing was a delay in order to allow the Deputy of Grouville the opportunity to present this change to the Law likely to affect the ability of those who would become eligible under these proposals? I am informed by the Deputy that she will lodge her own proposition around Easter time with a view to having it debated when she has completed her secondary school visits and got feedback from school councils and the youth forum. Having checked with the Greffier, I am reliably informed that this a relatively minor amendment in law drafting terms which could be made quickly and would not, therefore, affect their potential right to vote in 2008, should the States agree to the proposal. The second thing, Sir, was what benefit would be achieved by allowing the Deputy of Grouville to table these proposals? In discussions with the Deputy recently, I have learnt that it was her intention to lodge a similar proposal 15 minutes after I had on the day that it was tabled. The fact that I had already submitted a proposition denied her this opportunity. The proposition to allow 16-year olds to vote has been something I have been saying we should do since I entered the States in 1999, Sir. It is something I believe in and would very much like to see in place. I am not, nor have I ever been, of the belief that it is more important that one gets the credit for something, so much as the best outcome for the Island is paramount. I do, contrary to some opinion, believe in team work and as long as the Island and our community benefits that is all that matters. In conclusion of this consideration I have realised through conversations with the Deputy of Grouville and studying media reports, that the young people have been actively engaged by the Deputy , helped by Deputies Fox and Gorst , in a manner which best suits the engagement process and for which I would like to congratulate them. I have therefore, Sir, decided to withdraw my proposition on the understanding that the Deputy of Grouville will be lodging her own
proposition after further research around Easter time.