Policy & Resources president Lindsay de Sausmarez rejected the idea of a chief minister with executive powers as a way of improving government in the island.
Deputy de Sausmarez believed that problems and failings in other places showed that their models of ministerial or cabinet government were no better, and were often worse, than Guernsey’s traditional committee system.
‘Jersey has got a form of executive government and they don’t make or implement decisions any quicker than we do,’ she said.
‘We’ve got a much more stable political environment than the UK because we don’t have party politics which is likely to lurch from one direction of travel to another with every election.
‘We had a presentation a week or so ago about the future of the finance industry and one of the headlines stressed to us, as a roomful of politicians, was not to underestimate the importance of political stability.’
Guernsey’s machinery of government was last restructured in 2016 and only a few members of the current States Assembly have indicated any interest in moving to a ministerial or cabinet system.
However, Deputy de Sausmarez was asked about the issue when she was the guest speaker at a Gpeg event on Friday.
She acknowledged there had been examples of slow decision-making and inadequate project management, but said they were neither unique to Guernsey nor caused primarily by the island’s system of government.
‘There have been some notable U-turns, some for good reasons and some not, but that is a frustration under any political system,’ she said.
‘We are incredibly agile in some of the deals and work we do with our neighbouring jurisdictions. We were responsive and agile on Brexit, and Covid was another wonderful example.
‘We can make decisions and implement them really well, but those never hit the headlines.’
About 15 months ago, Deputy Mark Helyar said he would like to see a referendum on the island’s system of government, after the previous States rejected a requete to reduce the number of seats in the Assembly.
Instead, deputies instructed the current States Assembly & Constitution Committee to reconsider the number of deputies required for the States to operate as efficiently and democratically as possible.
Deputy de Sausmarez asked the audience at Friday’s event to think about the potential consequences of cabinet government, under which executive powers would be held by a smaller number of ministers, possibly operating distinctly from the Assembly.
‘Everyone loves the idea of executive government while they think of their favourite people or politicians,’ she said.
‘They think about the people who they believe would be most appropriate for those roles.
‘Then I usually ask them to think about the people who they believe would be least suitable for those roles.’
Several Assemblies have rejected moving to ministerial or cabinet government, including in 2002, 2010 and 2014, following various reviews carried out both by States committees and independent panels.