Gordon Robinson | Constitutional fakery

The political discussion in Jamaica today is boring me to tears.

We continue a futile finger pointing game instead of focusing on the one necessity that stands out like a sore thumb which is the welfare of We the People. If we haven’t learned over 63 years that what We the People need more than cook food is good governance, then we will never learn.

Words can’t describe the depth of my disappointment with the fake Constitutional Reform process conducted by Government, for the past two and a half years, seemingly with the sole purpose of political advantage in the next election. Either it gets its way and there’s reform without change or it blames PNP for obstructionism.

There’s no clearer evidence, albeit circumstantial, that this is Government’s intention than the fact that the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) was appointed by the Constitutional Affairs Minister (who appointed herself Chairman) for the term of office of the current Government. Despite grandiose assertions of planned reform in phases, this Government clearly has no use for CRC after election. If it did, CRC would’ve been appointed by the Governor General so its term could exceed Government’s and the phases could proceed smoothly led by a CRC that didn’t have to revise all the pre-election work before beginning again.

That’s NOT Constitutional Reform. That’s Constitutional Fakery!

In all the petty political puffery, We the People are sacrificial lambs. The sole purpose for changing the nation’s most fundamental law is that the change BENEFITS citizens. So ask yourself how this process of constitutional fakery will BENEFIT Jamaicans. Will the change from a ceremonial King/Governor General to a ceremonial President BENEFIT Jamaicans?

What do Jamaicans NEED to ensure benefit? A Constitution is made by and for We the People to give us good governance. There’s NO OTHER REASON. Where’s the improvement in governance because the political parties can choose a ceremonial President instead of a ceremonial Governor General?

Constitutional Fakery!

There are two main facts that should be driving Jamaica’s constitutional reform process:

1. Jamaicans are not allowed to vote for the Government of their choice. We can only vote for a constituency representative (MP). This fake electoral system, force fed to us by our English Colonizers, has caused shrewd Jamaican voters to convert our general election into a vote in one island wide constituency in order to get the Government they want. With the exception of the garrisons, and a select few excellent MPs, most voters don’t know or care about minor details like the name of the candidate for whom they cast a vote.

2. Once we vote for MP we’ve NO VOICE. Everyone supposed to represent our interests is appointed for us by Prime Ministerial edict or veto. A PM for 3 million people is pre-selected by3000 Party Delegates.

There’s no more fundamental right in a Democracy than the right to vote. WHY is not ONE political party proposing that we should be allowed to vote directly for PM (or President) and separately for a MP to represent us in government oversight? WHY isn’t one political party proposing that all Senators and Mayors should be elected by us?

Currently the Senate is appointed by the two party leaders without any reference to We the People. Yet its main role and function is to critically review legislation passed in the “Lower” House. But its mandate to do so doesn’t come from We the People. Its mandate to review, correct or reject legislation passed in the lower house comes from PM and Leader of the Opposition. So, surprise, surprise, Senate review is conducted exactly like the original Bill’s passage was in the Lower House. Government Senators rubber stamp the Bill. Opposition Senators oppose some if not all the sections. Then a party line vote is taken and the Bill is confirmed.

It’s constitutional fakery!

Jamaica has a unicameral legislature masquerading as a bicameral legislature. In both houses the same “camera” takes the same photo and puts it in a political party’s family album. Fakery!

You KNOW something’s cockeyed somewhere when Senators happily resign from the “Upper House” to run for a seat in the “Lower House”. You KNOW something’s cockeyed somewhere when MPs bawl for low salary but fight tooth and nail to become candidates and whine endlessly about aborted negotiations if they fail to be “selected”.

FATUOUS FAKERY

As a result of this fatuous fakery the Legislature is dominated by cabinet and the views expressed are KSAC and St Catherine views while the rest of the constituency representatives make token submissions; toe the party line; and hope to be appointed Ministers. We must insist on an elected Senate and, if done on a Parish representative basis, on Senators residing in the Parish they represent in the “Upper” House.

In what Universe can a legislature be passing or reviewing laws when its authority doesn’t come from the people in an election? Since when does it make sense to have persons unaccountable to the electorate debating and passing our laws? I hear the argument that an election of Senators will perpetuate current two party domination of governance as people will vote along party lines as they do now. The argument continues we need some independent Senators in the Upper House.

Okay. Where are we going to find these “independent senators”? Maybe we’ll find them in Utopia because, in real life, those creatures don’t exist. If we even go so far as to ask civil society groups to each nominate a representative that person would not be “independent”. That nominee would at least be representing the interests of the nominating group but more likely the nominee’s political preference as between the same two political parties.

One thing we must never do if we want democracy is to try to manufacture a system that’s independent from the people. Authority to govern and to pass laws MUST come from the people. So what if voters in the proposed new system continue to vote along party lines? There are techniques to ensure no one party gets a two-thirds majority. But, if one does happen to win a two-thirds majority because it’s what the electorate wants then so be it.

At least the Senators’ mandate will be from the people not from a party leader. At least the Senators will be accountable to the people who can kick them out at the next election or maybe engineer a recall election mid-term. If Senatorial terms were different from MPs’ terms so elections were staggered it would keep both parties on their toes as majorities in either house could be quickly lost.

If we also separate government from the legislature; give the people a direct vote for PM (or President); have PM nominate a cabinet to manage government from the extra-parliamentary population to be confirmed by MPs; institute impeachment proceedings for Government officials and recall elections for legislators; an elected Senate could work.

But we have no ethical choice. Anything else would not be democracy. Anything else would be Constitutional Fakery!

Maybe, in the beginning, it wouldn’t look very different from how it looks now. But, over time, as We the People get to fully understand our power, I expect voting patterns to evolve and maybe even voices other than those from PNP/JLP be elected to the Upper House. It all depends on the details of the system we put in but Government’s concocted “new Senate” whereby Government essentially gets to nominate 18 of 27 Senators and ensure a two-thirds majority in the Upper House is constitutional fakery!

Its full time we stop going along with the current fakery without asking probing questions. Its full time we stop going along with the fakery without insisting that BENEFIT to We the People is shown by EVERY decision for fundamental change.

Enough fakery in our politics! Don’t be fooled into being a sheep. It’s full time for us to be shepherds of Jamaica’s future.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com