Sark could reduce Chief Pleas numbers in aim to fill the seats
SARK could cut the number of politicians in its government in a bid to ensure contested elections.
Currently all 28 members of Chief Pleas have been elected unopposed – the latest election in March to try to fill the seats garnered just one candidate, leaving four posts vacant.
The island has not had a contested election since 2012 and now Policy and Performance will take a report to an extraordinary meeting of Chief Pleas on 17 May as part of moves to address the issue.
The report states that Chief Pleas, and indeed much of Sark, has been concerned for some time about how many people stand and serve in it Chief Pleas.
'Chief Pleas wants contested elections. Contested elections are just one of the indicators of a healthy democracy.'
In 2008 Sark voted to change from 450 years of feudal government to a democratically-elected assembly.
'Chief Pleas has come a long way in the almost nine years since, but it could only be a best guess then as to how many would serve, how many had the time, how many could afford the time and what abilities and skills we had available to change from feudal to democratic.
