The first 100 days: what the new administration should do

by Prof Trevor Munroe

The new administration should in its first 100 days:

1. Reduce or eliminate persons tainted with corruption from appointments to the Cabinet, the Senate and as heads of major public-sector entities.

2. Genuinely seek collaboration with the Opposition and with civil society in achieving consensus on tax reform, public-sector transformation, pension reform, the public-sector wage bill and employment creation - short and long term - the key areas required to complete the current IMF standby agreement, to sustain socio-economic stability and lay a basis for growth. Especially in an election whose results have revealed a small majority for the winning party, no single party-as-government has the legitimacy among the people to carry through these measures by itself.

The Partnership for Transformation (PFT) provides a ready-made framework for working towards this collaboration since it includes the Government, Opposition, private sector, trade unions and civil-society groups. The PFT should be expanded to include a seat for women's groups and be reconvened within the first month of the new administration with the above agenda and with the prime minister remaining as chairman. A programme should be implemented to engage the public in the work of the PFT.

3. Prioritise and fast-track into law, positions already accepted or bills in various stages of development designed to improve integrity and strengthen transparency and accountability in governance.

At the top of the list is the June 2011 report of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica on campaign finance reform (approved by both parties in November and supported by civil society); the special prosecutor bill; amendments to procurement legislation to include 'fit and proper' criteria for subcontractors to Government, as well as harsh penalties for violations of the law; and amendments to the Political Ombudsman Act to provide severe sanctions for political intimidation and other violations of the Code of Political Conduct which assist in maintaining political garrisons.

4. Seek the agreement of the Opposition with regard to Senate appointments in order to ensure: and at least 40 per cent government and opposition appointments to the Senate are women; at least two of the 13 government and one of the eight opposition Senate appointments are independent. This would be an interim measure until the constitutional amendments agreed from 1995 to expand the Senate and formalise 'independent senators' as part of the constitutional structure.

5. Modify the practice of House of Representatives to meet one or two afternoons per week and the Senate one morning per week to meet three afternoons and two mornings per week, respectively, to facilitate more fulsome discharge of Parliament's responsibilities to make laws, debate private members' motions and to answer questions on the Order Paper. At present, the frequency of parliamentary meetings is among the lowest in the Commonwealth and is completely inadequate to deal with a legislative agenda which has approximately 110 bills to debate, amend and pass.

6. Charge the Ethics Committee of the House to examine and amend the Standing Orders to empower the Parliament to suspend members who are charged for serious criminal offences or against whom credible allegations of corruption are made by specified authorities, e.g. the Office of the Contractor General.

7. Ensure meaningful pre-Budget consultations with the Opposition and with civil society on the 2011-2012 Budget as recommended in the Moses Report (1999).

8. Determine and publish a timetable with appropriate milestones for: implementing the Justice Reform Report recommendations, the recommendations of the 1995 joint select committee on constitutional reform (including Jamaica's transition to a republican form of the Westminster model), and local government reform (including a comprehensive local government act which would give statutory recognition to parish development committees, as well as local public accounts committees).

9. Begin consultations with the Opposition, civil society, trade unions and the private sector on the outlines of a framework for an Extended Fund Facility to succeed the standby agreement with the IMF which expires in May 2012.

10. Publish a schedule of investment projects, foreign and local, from already-signed agreements to various stages of completion WITH THEIR JOB-CREATION POTENTIAL. This includes fast-tracking the Community Renewal Programme, already in the process of implementation.

11. Adjust the penalties, particularly fines, in anti-corruption legislation to take into account inflation. For example, the maximum fine for breaches under the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act (1975) is J$10,000. Adjusted for inflation, this should be now amended to become J$4 million.

12. Charge the heads of anti-corruption agencies and the leaders of the the criminal justice system to pursue investigations, to implement and to apply the law without fear or favour, and without regard to social status or political connections.

Prof Trevor Munroe is executive director of the civil-society lobby, National Integrity Action. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.