INDICATIONS from the budget speeches of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding, are that there an important period of collaboration could emerge on issues central to the country during the 2006/07 legislative year.

Simpson Miller (PNP-South West St Andrew) has suggested the establishment of mechanisms which will go beyond the decades old 60/40 system of work distribution between ‘labourites’ and ‘comrades’, names ascribed to supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party and People’s National Party, respectively.

She suggested that the system must engage the wider society and form the basis of a “new approach to governance” empowering all Jamaicans, “not just the government and the Opposition, but all the people.” The 60/40 system has been used mainly to dole out jobs on construction sites, especially government sites and one of the problems is that it is always unbalanced in favour of whichever party is in power, and often ignored, resulting in one side controlling the whole site.

With the current violence in East Kingston primarily linked to control of employment for the planned expansion of the Caribbean Cement Company, this could be used as the perfect test case for the Prime Minister’s vision of involving all the people in the employment process.

Constitutional reform

The Prime Minister also addressed the issue of constitutional reform, which has been a priority of the government since 1992 when the Charter of Rights was envisaged, but was bogged down in protestations, including from the church, which caused the last joint select committee to be adjourned sine die.

“There is now no major obstacle standing in the way of the agreement necessary to change the constitution to a republican form of parliamentary government,” said Simpson Miller.

She said that the president, whose selection should ensure that the office becomes a symbol of national unity, would have the responsibility of making certain sensitive appointments which should not appear to be in any way partisan.

In terms of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) becoming the island’s final court of appeal, she said both parties have arrived at a point where “a formula acceptable to both sides could be reached.”

With respect to the Charter of Rights, she said the report of the joint select committee of Parliament should be presented to the House prior to this year’s Independence celebrations, marked annually in August.

Corruption

On corruption, the Prime Minister agreed that before the end of the month, Cabinet would consider making the Corruption Commission a creature of Parliament similar to the Integrity Commission and the Ombudsman.

This would remove the commission from the embrace of the Ministry of Justice, which Golding (JLP-West Kingston) accused in his speech of hijacking funds designated by Parliament for its work, saying it was both “disruptive and unlawful.”

Golding also asked for a special prosecutor “functioning under the constitutional authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)” to investigate and prosecute persons involved in corruption.

Parliament

The Opposition leader again raised the issue of the separation of powers, “as a means of strengthening Parliament to hold the government to account.”

The Prime Minister said past talks with the opposition JLP had lacked cohesiveness, but did not indicate her party’s current position.

Golding admitted to the division within his party on the issue, but suggested that it should not be allowed to derail talks.

“It is an issue on which sharply conflicting views exist, and that is as much so among the public as it is within my own party. No system of government is perfect and separation of powers has it weaknesses, the most compelling of these is the fact that having a separately elected Parliament does not guarantee a Parliament that will have any interest in holding the government to account – not if the Parliament is dominated by the same party that forms the government,” said the Opposition leader.

“In that scenario, the purpose of separation is defeated by the likelihood of collusion.”

It was a very fundamental point from him.

Some may interpret it as an indication that he is having a second look at a proposal he has always strongly supported. Others may accept it as a honest reflection on the failings of that system.

He said that there has been intense discussions within the JLP on the issue over the past year. The point at which consensus seems to end, is that the current system allows the government “to do as it likes”, causing “considerable harm to the people of Jamaica” and is, therefore, unsuitable.

Westminister system

Golding also suggested that the Westminster parliamentary system, which Jamaica has adopted from Britain, has to be re-engineered “not just to strengthen the power of Parliament, but to strengthen the role of the Opposition within the Parliament because it is the Opposition, not the government majority, that must exercise effective restraint on the government.”

He admitted that the 13-7 (Government-Opposition) composition of the Senate was considered a safeguard against the excessive power of government by the authors of the Constitution, but that experience has shown that they did not go far enough.

“The challenge, therefore, is how to strengthen the role of the Opposition without unduly fettering the government which has a duty to discharge its mandate,” he said.

The Opposition Leader also proposed new entrenched Standing Orders, that is, rules governing the proceedings of Parliament.

Though Section 51 of the Constitution provides for the Standing Orders, he said, it offered no protection against their suspension, at will, and being changed by a simple majority.

He proposed, instead, a stipulation in the Constitution that amendments to the Standing Orders must be approved by a two-thirds majority, ensuring that specific provisions affecting the rights of members could not be suspended by a simple majority vote.

He also raised, again, the Opposition’s position that the oversight role of Parliament is “undermined” by the fact that, in most instances, it is a government member directing the oversight.

Golding also raised as a concern that while ministers of government, under the Standing Orders, have the right to make statements in the House, the latitude recently extended to other members to respond has remained a courtesy and not a right.

“We need to change that,” he said. “Ministers are not the only ones who may need to address Parliament on a matter of importance,” he said, adding as well that resolutions and questions are subject to notice and delays, while the opportunity, under Standing Order No 11, to raise issues on the motion for adjournment is subject to the approval of the Speaker and confined to matters of urgent national importance.

He proposed that the right of ministers to make statements be extended to all members.

“Place a finite limit on the number of such statements that can be allowed during any one sitting and on the duration of such statements, but let us dismantle the structure of privilege that now defines the rights of members,” said Golding.

“We were all sent here to represent the people’s interests. None of us should be more equal than others, because none of the people we represent is more equal than the other.”

henryb@jamaicaobserver.com