Boundary Changes to Follow Census Completion, Browne Says

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says long-anticipated changes to constituency boundaries will not move forward until the completion of the national census, delaying electoral adjustments that some have argued are urgently needed.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show on Pointe FM on Saturday, Browne said the timing of the recent general election prevented the Boundaries Commission from acting on disparities among constituencies.

“Matters that we will resolve because we call early elections,” Browne said, noting that the commission “could not have acted; they had to wait the completion of the census.”

He added that the census, which is still weeks away from completion, will provide the data needed to guide any redrawing of constituency lines.

“It is the census that will inform the boundary changes,” Browne said.

Concerns about uneven constituency sizes have been raised in the lead-up to the April 30 general election, with critics pointing to population imbalances that could affect representation.

Browne said those issues will be addressed once the census results are finalized and the Boundaries Commission is reconstituted.

“When the Boundaries Commission is actually reconstituted about two years from now, it will be in a position to make those changes because it would have had an up-to-date census to drive the process,” he said.

The prime minister’s comments suggest that any formal boundary adjustments will not take place in the immediate term, despite ongoing debate about electoral fairness and representation.