Peter Espeut | Proposed constitutional dictatorship

Those who study the history of any country recognise that certain events are turning points, taking the country in a different direction, whether for good or bad. In Jamaica’s case, over the last 200 years we can identify five major turning points:

• 1834/1838 – Emancipation and Full Freedom for the enslaved;

• 1865 – The Morant Bay Rebellion leading to a new constitution, wherein Jamaica was ruled directly from London (crown colony rule);

• 1884 – a new constitution was given to Jamaica wherein pure Crown Colony rule was replaced by a council composed of 9 elected members and 9 nominated by the Governor, who was chair with both a casting vote and a veto; only people with property could vote;

• 1944 – a new constitution was given under universal adult suffrage;

• 1962 – a new constitution was given as Jamaica is granted political independence with the British monarch as head of state; the lower house is elected while the upper house (the senate) is appointed.

The plan of the present Holness government is that 2025 will be a sixth major turning point in 200 years as Jamaica is to again get a new Constitution. The trouble is, whereas previous epochs generally led to political progress, the present proposals represent a backward step towards dictatorship, which must be strenuously resisted!

Last Tuesday the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs tabled the Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Act 2024 in the Parliament intended to abolish the Constitutional Monarchy and transition Jamaica to a republic. If the Holness government has their way, republic we technically might become, but in reality it will be a Constitutional Dictatorship, with the Prime Minister (PM) as the dictator.

COLLUDING

If there is anything worse than the two major political parties colluding on the type of Constitution that solidifies their serial hegemony, it would be for the ruling party to do a power grab and have it their way and their way alone without any meaningful consultation. That is where we are.

A government committed to true democracy would have been careful to set up a Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) truly representing the Jamaican people, which would then conduct widespread public education on the options, and public consultations to find out what the people wanted. You could tell that something was wrong when the Minister chose who would represent the church, youth, and civil society. The party in power already knew the type of constitution it wanted, so there was no need for public education or consultation.

Once I heard that the strategy the government was pursuing was a two phase approach, where in Phase I only matters to do with removing the British monarch as head of state were under discussion, with all other matters left for Phase II, I was convinced that ginnalship was at work – big time!

I was right! Phase I must give the ruling party all the power it needs to make the other changes it wishes without the concurrence of the opposition. That is real dictatorship!

This approach requires the bare minimum of consensus – only on matters requiring a referendum. The Opposition and civil society are asked to support the removal of the monarchy with no guarantees or even serious discussion about other important matters that the ruling party could push through parliament without any consensus. At that point, not even the opposition would have any leverage to prevent the ruling party amending the constitution to give themselves more power. That is the ginnalship!

REAL POWER

The real power of the opposition party is felt when the constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in the senate. Presently the upper house is configured (13 government and eight opposition senators) such that at least one opposition senator must break ranks and vote with the government. This is the major safeguard, as that will be rare.

Any party wishing to be dictatorial must eradicate this safeguard. The new constitution does so with finesse! In the senate of the proposed Republic of Jamaica the government shall nominate 15 of the 27 senators, with the opposition nominating nine and the President appointing three of his choice. It will be easy for the government to win a two-third’s majority vote (18-9) if all of the President’s three senate appointees vote with the government, which is only to be expected.

This will be easy since the President is selected solely by the PM, and the President’s senate appointees are almost sure to be sympathetic. Once the proposed Jamaican republic is in place, and the ruling party has a two-thirds majority in the lower house (as they do now), the PM will be able to pass any constitutional amendment he wishes to give himself more power or take away civil rights without consensus, consultation or discussion. That is dictatorship!

I say that the president is selected solely by the PM. The draft bill tabled last week says that if the parties cannot agree on a consensus candidate, “the Prime Minister shall determine the nominee” (25.4.d.ii.A of the draft bill) and then advise the Speaker and Senate President.

This is even more dictatorial than the CRC Report, which stated in Section 4.3.1.iii: “In the absence of consensus between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, each is empowered to make a separate nomination to be confirmed by both Houses of the Parliament sitting jointly, on a vote of an absolute majority of each House voting separately by secret ballot”.

Voting SEPARATELY. In the draft Act, the PM’s nominee for President “shall be put to a confirmation vote conducted by secret ballot at a JOINT sitting of the Houses of Parliament”. In a joint sitting the ruling party will effectively have 18 senators to the opposition’s 9; a small majority in the lower house caused by a close election will therefore be easily negated.

This is dictatorship!

What a piece of ginnalship!

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com