THREE KEY pillars of democracy are separation of powers; independence, impartiality, and neutrality; and trust. These are the issues at stake in Bruce Golding's announced commission of enquiry into the Golding-Brady-Coke-Manatt crisis, itself a breach of all three. It is this breach that leads to a crisis of integrity, and of confidence in government.
THE HIGGLERS who vend in the Kingston market are once again the focus of national attention as they protest the degradation of the physical environment within the markets. They certainly have cause for complaint.
RECENTLY, TWO 'Generation X' politicians from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (Delano Seiveright and Marlon Morgan) entered the debate on renewing the hope in the Jamaican economy. Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller raised this issue in her speech to the public session of the People's National Party's 72nd annual conference.
THE DIVERSIFICATION of our energy base away from oil is imperative. The high electricity costs that we experience in Jamaica significantly reduces the disposable income at the end of every month for individual householders, as well as small business owners and operators of our major industries.
Member State representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS) and experts on the subject of human rights and older persons met on Thursday (October 28) at Organization headquarters in Washington, DC, to discuss the feasibility of creating a convention that protects and further promotes the rights of older persons.
THERE IS much that I like and admire about Everald Warmington, the 'controversial' member of parliament (MP) for South West St Catherine and minister of state for water and housing. I am, therefore, unwilling to join in any wholesale 'demonising' of him.
THERE IS a lot for Jamaicans to contemplate these days: the economy and the ever-rising cost of living; the spin-doctor's story; the indiscipline which envelopes our social interaction; the disdain we display regarding the principles of the hallowed conventions that make for the ordered society; and the severe physical challenges to everyday living...
It is generally accepted that the People's National Party (PNP) was able to mobilise a strong crowd of supporters into the National Arena and rock the gathering of comrades at its recent party conference.It is one thing to...
A Carl Stone poll of May, 1990 showed that two union men were thought by Jamaicans to be the best persons in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to replace Edward Seaga.
The People's National Party's young professional group, the Patriots, hailed it as a victory for civil society, the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaican people in general. The PNP Youth Organisation (PNPYO) begged to differ: They saw it as a clever diversionary tactic, a smoke-and-mirrors game.
I see that the foot-in-mouth disease has spread. Way back in April of this year when I first wrote on the now notorious Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (MPP) saga, I alerted the readers to my situation as follows...
Based upon most of what we have read and heard from the Caribbean academic community, political and business leaders and journalists on the subject of economic globalisation ...
Some of the most important elements of our culture and heritage tend to get overlooked or under-treated at this heritage time of the year and all through the rest of the year. Far more important than music, food and folklore wrapped in bandana is our legal and political heritage and the religious grounding which generated this heritage of Western democracy and individual freedom.
President Piñera of Chile advised the world at the end of the rescue mission to bring the trapped miners to the surface: "We faced this united." That was the platform on which the success of that near miraculous operation was erected.
This is an extract from 'Jamaica Fi Real: Beauty, Vibes and Culture' by Kevin O'Brien Chang. Published by Ian Randle Publishers, available at the end of this month.
Ministry Paper 78, for the 2010 calendar year, which has been tabled in the House of Representatives, revealed that the four regional health authorities (RHAs) were among 134 government agencies which have never submitted reports for tabling in Parliament.
Bruce Golding has conceded to a commission of enquiry into the Golding-Coke-Brady-Manatt affair, now over a year old. We are yet to see how independent that enquiry will be. We might also wonder who he is conceding to, and why. He might be using the longstanding People's National Party (PNP) demand for a commission of enquiry to conceal the real motive.
United States (US) federal prosecutors have done their best to hang Buju Banton out to dry, only to succeed in hanging the jury instead. Interested onlookers should get a grasp of one abiding legal principle in order to understand fully what's happened at this farce of a trial. The fundamental forensic tenet applicable here is a trite rule laid down from Blackstone's time: "Mout' mek fi chat!"
September 30 saw a national strike in Spain. On the same day, unions from 30 countries across Europe organised demonstrations centred in Brussels. Some three million pensioners, youth, workers and migrants in France protested against new pension and retirement laws on October 2.
In september 2007, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) triumphed in a contested general-election victory for the first time since 1980, and tasted real political power for the first time since 1989. You would think that droughts of such durations would make Labourites wary of falling into the same traps that kept them so long in the wilderness. But recent events make you wonder.
