St Helena : St Helena Celebrating 100 Years of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 29.10.2011 (Article Archived on 12.11.2011)
A historic occasion was celebrated on Monday with the birth of St Helena’s first ever Youth Parliament.
Celebrating 100 Years of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
A Double Celebration for St Helena
A historic occasion was celebrated on Monday with the birth of St Helena’s first ever Youth Parliament.
This momentous event honoured the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), of which St Helena is a branch.
In commemoration of this special day, an Ecumenical Service was held at St James’ Church for all members of the CPA, members of the Youth Parliament and the general public.
After the Service, the congregation proceeded to the Court House for the main events of the day, which included the inaugural meeting of the St Helena Youth Parliament.
In her opening address, the President of the St Helena branch, Cathy Hopkins MBE, commented on how ‘honoured’ she was to chair the meeting which not only celebrated 100 years of the CPA but also ‘witnessed history in the making’ with the beginning of the Youth Parliament, which she described as “young people rising to meet the challenges of today’s world and taking their place as young Parliamentarians.’
The President added that ‘it is appropriate to recognise the importance of our young people who are taking an important step with the setting up of a Youth Parliament’. She said that it gave her ‘great pleasure to welcome our young people to acknowledge their commitment and to look forward to the development of the next generation of St Helena’s Parliamentarians.’
A recorded video message from the Secretary General of the CPA, Dr William F. Shija, was then played. Following this, Deputy Speaker, Eric Benjamin announced the CPA St Helena branch membership, much to the delight of many present.
The inaugural meeting of the Youth Parliament then followed.
The Youth Parliament consists of Chairman, Andrew Turner and members Gemma Yon, Zedella Young, Rebecca Lawrence and Neil Francis. They were joined by Councillors, Stedson Francis and Tony Green to debate the issue that ‘This House would lower the voting age to 16.’
The inaugural meeting opened with a welcome from the Chairman who in his opening remarks, gave a brief history of the existence of Youth Parliaments in other parts of the world and their instrumental role in getting young people involved in their countries’ decision making.
The debate that followed was a thought provoking one with three members debating for and three against.
Some reasons for lowering the voting age to 16 included, a person of 16 might be just as mature as someone older; at 16 young people are able to fight for their country and have a family yet have no input into the way they are governed; and that it is essential to lower the voting age to access young people’s opinions and to reflect a true democracy.
Some opposing reasons were that 16 year olds still live with their parents and as a result would be influenced in their thinking; that they are not ready to decide the Island’s future since as adolescents their judgements are less mature than adults; and young people at this age should be concentrating more on their educational needs and preparing themselves to make sound judgements when reaching the current voting age.
After both cases were heard a free vote took place where there was a small majority in favour of lowering the voting age to 16. The issue will now be considered by Legislative Council and will require public consultation.
The lively debate which Acting Governor, Ken Baddon described as ‘food for thought’ brought the morning’s activities to a close.
A photo shoot of the CPA St Helena branch and the Youth Parliament then took place on the Court House steps. This was followed by a lunch at Ann’s place for invited guests.
At lunch the Acting Governor remarked that he shall watch with interest the development of the Youth Parliament and ‘whether or not the voting age is reduced the Youth Parliament will provide an important bridge between the political generations – a single body in which those too old for school politics and those too young for the Legislative Council processes can debate issues of common interest.’
Public Relations/Information Office
The Secretariat
27th October 2011
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