Bring on constitutional reform to fix Jamaica’s woes

Jamaica is a developing nation with much potential but it, unfortunately, suffers from high levels of systematic corruption and lack of discipline. According to Transparency International, in 2018, Jamaica was the 70th least corrupt country in the world, with Barbados and Dominica leading the region at 25th and 45th, respectively.

At this current moment in the nation’s history, it is undeniable that Jamaica has serious systematic and social problems. There are several new or revised practices and/or protocols that could be utilised to improve the country in the medium to long term. Constitutional reform is among the key steps Jamaica can take to tackle the myriad of problems we face daily.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. Currently, Jamaica’s Constitution is modelled from the Westminster system, where the party with the majority of seats forms the government and the leader of that party becomes prime minister.

In my opinion, practising a system where we cannot vote for who we want as prime minister and our member of parliament (MP) separately is backwards and not very democratic. What happens when your member of parliament does work but you do not believe that the leader of the party would be fit to become prime minister? Voting for our prime minister separately would give MPs who have been lackadaisical an incentive to do work as they would be voted out otherwise.

It would also be wise to independently elect all mayors and senators. This would provide a wake-up call to those who aspire to such positions, ensuring they recognise that they must make their case to the people. It would also become much harder for a party leader to threaten or control these individuals because their jobs would not be in his hands, leading to a reduced potential for corruption. Legitimate impeachment legislation and protocols should be introduced in order to keep all members of the government accountable.

EQUAL CONSTITUENCY FUNDING

Another change that desperately needs to happen is to equitably fund all our constituencies and municipalities. There should be no bias around who gets more or less money to carry out capital expenditure/outlays within their designated area.

Another practice that could increase transparency among the electorate is the fixing of election dates and providing term limits for all levels of government.

We as a nation should also give third parties a real chance at competing in general and local government elections as many Jamaicans have been turned off by both parties because of various scandals and relatively limited progress in the last 57 years of independence. We can do this by looking into their plans and proposals and assisting with grass-roots fundraising. Additional competition would incentivise the larger parties to perform better in order to maintain their position in office. This would return hope to many Jamaicans who have unfortunately given up on the system.

Another problem is that many of the committees that are formed to draft laws are ineffective because of conflicting interests. I believe these committees should be comprised of different stakeholder groups, legal experts and politicians from different backgrounds who have consistently demonstrated that the country’s best interest is their number-one priority.

Efficiency is also a problem in our legislature. Serving dual roles as a MP and as Cabinet minister is taxing and does not allow for proper representation. How can our legislators be expected to work at their highest rate of efficiency if they are already serving in multiple capacities? All branches of government must be truly separate.

Those who follow United States politics would recognise that many of the measures proposed here mirror that system of government, which is arguably more accountable and leaves power in the hands of more people. While change is not easy, the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that there is one.

n Malik Smith is a 20-year-old first-year economics student at The University of the West Indies.