3
to wait. In thuse circumstances we must have regard not just to
the security situation as it is today, but to what it may have
become in five years' time if independence has by then still not
been achieved.
We cannot assume that the relative domestic
calm of the last two or three years will be maintained without
And powers, once devolved, cannot be clawed back
difficulty.
without a constitutional crisis.
7.
This
When looking at the small print of colonial constitutions
it is also important not to overlook the basic but unwritten
responsibility of Her Majesty's Government to Parliament in
London and, in different degree, to the United Nations.
point too was emphasized by Sir John Paul in the phrase:
"... however much authority may be delegated, this cannot
derogate from the fact that the Governor and the British
Government have the final responsibility for the proper
administration and security of the country.
8.
A closer examination of the particular proposals put forward
by Belize Minister s on the public service and the police sheds
interesting new light on the matter. The first proposal was
that the Governor's ultimate authority over the civil service
be removed and the Public Service Commission be given executive
powers. Now on those exceptiorrl occasions when the advice of
the Public Service Commission is not followed by the Governor
it is often because he desires to protect. the government from
embarrassment or administrative difficulty which a recommendation
of the Public Service Com.aission would cause them. By virtue
of his day-to-day contact with ministers and their officials the
Governor is in a position to understand their policies and take
'account of their administrative requirements in a way which the
5.
CONFIDENT LAL AND PERSONAL
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