Retiring Speaker slams island secrecy

Thursday 30 January 2020

Arthur Rolfe has tendered his resignation as Speaker of Chief Pleas, with a damning letter criticising Sark's "archaic process" and the way most government decisions are made with "utmost secrecy".

Mr Rolfe has been Speaker of Chief Pleas for three years and before that was an elected Conseiller, and briefly served the island as President under Sark's relatively recently reformed political system.

However, Mr Rolfe has said, in a letter to Sark's Conseillers which you can read HERE, that the island continues to avoid many of the methods of "modern democracies throughout the rest of the world."

His term of office is due to end on 26 February, but he says he acknowledges he's lost the support of a number of members of Chief Pleas so he will stand down as soon as is possible, once "sufficient preparation has been made for a seamless succession".

One of his concerns with the way Chief Pleas, and therefore Sark is run, going forward is how many decisions are still made "behind closed doors".

Pictured: Sark's La Coupee. 

"Whilst meetings of Chief Pleas are open to the public, it is within the Standing Committees that are held 'behind closed doors' where the constructive discussions take place, and this is where there is understandable and quite considerable legitimate public interest," Mr Rolfe wrote in his open letter.

"It is accepted that discussion of issues of a sensitive personal nature affecting members of our community and issues of a sensitive commercial or security nature should rightly be dealt with in a professional way under the auspices of the Douzaine, Medical and Emergency and other specialist committees, confidentiality without public scrutiny.

"However, there is absolutely no reason why the vast bulk of general Government business under discussion currently by all standing Chief Pleas committees is still inexplicably conducted with the utmost secrecy. Frustratingly this secrecy does not just extend to the public but often between other committees. In other jurisdictions, public involvement would be considered essential and helpful."

Pictured: Inside Chief Pleas. 

Mr Rolfe says he would "encourage Conseillers to bring the whole archaic process up to a standard that is overwhelmingly desired by the inhabitants of Sark and accepted as a normal way of performing good governance by modern democracies throughout the rest of the world."

He wished Chief Pleas well in the future and says he will continue to work to help the island wherever he can.

Pictured top: Arthur Rolfe and Sark's Chief Pleas building.