PM scolded for trampling Constitution
Published:Monday | September 19, 2022 | 12:11 AM
Mark Golding, president of the People’s National Party (PNP), has chided Prime Minister Andrew Holness for straying from democratic traditions.
Referencing the administration’s string of constitutional cock-ups, Golding took aim, saying: “Somebody needs to sit this prime minister down and teach him what it means to live in a democracy.”
“From making their senators sign undated letters of resignation, to NIDS (National Identification System), to the appointment of a new Cabinet secretary, he continues to violate the Constitution. It is anti-democratic and dangerous,” Golding declared while addressing party supporters at the PNP’s 84th annual conference at the National Arena in Kingston.
In 2015, the Constitutional Court ruled that Holness, the then leader of the Opposition, was wrong when he used pre-signed, undated resignation letters to remove two opposition senators from the Upper House.
The case was brought by former JLP senator Arthur Williams.
The Supreme Court ruled in April 2019 that aspects of the first National Identification and Registration Act were in violation of the Constitution and declared the entire law null and void.
Following that ruling, the Government has since crafted a new law that was in keeping with the provisions in the Constitution and which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament.
On the matter of the appointment of a new Cabinet secretary, Lieutenant General Rocky Meade last week turned down an invitation by the Public Service Commission after being recommended by Holness to take up the post in October. This followed pronouncements by senior legal experts that the appointment would be in breach of the Constitution as the now-retired army chief did not qualify either in his civilian or then-military capacity.
To date, the Government is yet to comment on the botched appointment.
Noting that the Government did not want anyone to challenge it, Golding said: “They want Jamaican people to accept at face value everything they tell us, without question. They say they don’t want us to bring out and pressure the things that are going wrong when that is our role and responsibility as the constitutional Opposition.”
Golding said that the parliamentary Opposition will not back down from defending what is right for the Jamaican people.
The PNP president called for change, arguing that this could only be achieved by an authentic and consistent commitment to honest governance.
“Clean hands and a clean heart are what will bring the change we need! I am for consensus building. I am for respectful consultation and reasoning! No government badness and bullying the people!
“Fulsome engagement is critical to our democracy. Participatory democracy is a core principle of our party,” he said.