CHAIRMAN of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) Professor Errol Miller says there are already provisions in the law that sets out the eligibility of persons seeking political office.

Professor Miller, who was speaking at a press briefing at the commission's office in Kingston Wednesday, was responding to recent calls for the development of "fit and proper provisions" to screen aspiring politicians.

"We would need to amend the law to accommodate that. I believe we have to think this one through carefully," Miller told journalists at a press briefing where he gave an update on the recommendations contained in three reports submitted to Parliament in July.

According to Miller, the Constitution already spells out several criteria that must be met for persons to be eligible to be a representative in the Parliament, all of which carry their own 'problems'.

"You must be 21 years of age and older, must be a resident of Jamaica, must not have sworn allegiance to a foreign power, must not be bankrupt, must not be a felon, and must be of sound mind. We need to develop a procedure for dealing with all of those issues," he said.

"The way it is now in other parts of the world you see people being disqualified from running for office and that itself creates a big problem. In our system the founding fathers will not give the electoral authority power to do that, that is the prerogative of the Court," the ECJ chairman said.

"I believe it is perfectly possible and reasonable for political parties to implement things like that in their own best practices but even they can be subject to the point that somebody could deceive them that it has to be tested in Court. I believe we have to think this one through carefully," he added. The commission, he said, has not yet addressed the proposal.

"Don't think it through on one issue, think it through with respect to all the others, everyone has their own problem. Probably the man who is bankrupt is the easiest one to define and being a felon but when it comes to sound mind I wouldn't even venture there," Professor Miller told journalists.

He, however, had a hard position on just who should not sit in the Jamaican Parliament.

"One of the things I think we should change our laws to do is that no country that imposes a visa on Jamaicans, no Commonwealth country that imposes a visa on Jamaicans to enter their country should [have their citizens] be allowed to vote in Jamaica or to be represented in our Parliament.

"That's one of the issues we should immediately address. If we can't enter somebody else's country how can they be representatives in our Parliament," he said.

Chairman of the Opposition People's National Party's Communications Commission Dr Peter Phillips is among the persons who have called for the development of "fit and proper provisions" to screen all persons who offer themselves for elective office.

Phillips told Observer editors and reporters at the newspaper's weekly Monday Exchange last week that the development of such provisions would be one way of preventing persons with ties to the criminal underworld from sneaking into the ranks.

"I think some fit and proper provisions should be developed for all those who would offer themselves for elective office whether at the national or local level to be properly administered by an electoral commission," Dr Phillips said.

"There are issues about how far you want to deny persons their legitimate rights to offer themselves but sometimes there are no perfect solutions. What you have to do is determine what is the primary threat we face," he added.

Dr Phillips said the procedures "would be applied anytime somebody offers themselves for election" but noted that "it can't be willy nilly as it has to be worked out; a judgement has to be made because information doesn't necessarily constitute truth".

He added: "I believe we need to do more on this issue of sanctions and anti-corruption efforts."

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