Two issues related to the system of governance in Jamaica were raised last week in the media. One was an article by Frank Phipps, noted attorney-at-law, who put forward a strong recommendation for curtailing the appointment of ministers from among the elected members of parliament.

He suggests instead that the Cabinet should be appointed from the Senate, or at least “from persons with the necessary qualification and experience in the area of a particular portfolio responsibility, and who are uninfluenced by returns at the polls for elections”. This would, he says, separate the legislative function of government, which resides in parliament, from the executive function which is designed to carry out the duties of the Cabinet.

The argument here to appoint the Cabinet from members of the Senate assumes that Senate appointments are made, or should be made, according to criteria which are not influenced by political party position or favour. Unfortunately, this is rarely if ever achieved, as Senate appointments are usually given to unsuccessful candidates or retired party hacks who can still serve the interest of their party if they have the ability to debate or block Bills that are being passed through the House.

This is not the first time that the suggestion has been made for removing executive powers from the House by incorporating such into the Constitution. At one time the National Democratic Movement, when it was led by Bruce Golding, was a strong supporter for making the necessary constitutional changes and adopting the principles and practices of the American Constitution which appoints Cabinet secretaries from outside the political party zone.

The point has been made — but perhaps not often enough — to prevail on those who have ears to hear, that Parliament, in the form of the House of Representatives and the Senate, is established to pass laws. The executive, a separate arm of government, consists of the Cabinet, and is charged with the introduction of policies and laws that are meant to direct the act of governance, with Bills intended for such Acts sent to the legislature (Parliament) for approval.

When Cabinet ministers are appointed from the legislative arm, as pointed out by

Mr Phipps, “it creates a conflict of interests in government”, as a Cabinet minister can find himself in a position to pass his own laws from his seat as a legislator.

So take the Cabinet minister out of the House. Legislators — elected members of Parliament — need to legislate. The executive needs to create programmes and policies independent of any kind of political persuasion. And certainly, as Mr Phipps says: “The prime minister should not be restricted in his or her choice for selection of ministers to those persons who were successful at the polls.”

The changes to the constitution can easily be made to make it possible for all ministers appointed to be selected from the Senate. However, with the Senators all appointed by the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition, the heads of our two major parties, it may not always be possible to meet the exacting requirements of integrity and independence required to release the Cabinet from political party bias. The option would be to encourage the prime minister to appoint ministers both from and outside of the Senate, with the exception of the minister of finance, where I gather prudence dictates that the nation’s funds are to be laid before the House by an elected representative of the people. I can find comfort with that exception.

I also understand that the changes being advocated would take time and would be a culture shock for voters as well as elected representatives who go into office hoping for a ministerial appointment.

Perhaps we could take it in stages by reserving that very sensitive Ministry of Education office for independent-minded individuals who are not constrained by political party considerations or allegiances.

A minister of education, by virtue of his compulsory attendance at school functions all over the island, wields an awesome influence over young minds. I sometimes cringe when I see a minister of education, regardless of whatever party, sworn to treat with such a powerful and sacred instrument as education, at a school function one day and on a party platform the next.

Size matters

The other issue being currently debated is over the size of the present Cabinet. It is large, to say the least. One member from the government side recently made the proposal that we should add yet another ministry — did he say misery? This one would be in charge of overseas Jamaica relationships — and no doubt the repatriation money. Does he realise that we already have 20 ministers in the pack, not including ministers of state?

Great Britain has 22 Cabinet ministers, it seems that we are in a desperate hurry to catch up with them. But the United States Government has only 15 ministers (secretaries) and the president seems quite comfortable with that number. So, where do we go from here?

Various parties have been a calling for a reduction in the size of our Cabinet, or at least for a reshuffle. Most argue for a Cabinet of no more than 13 members.

Like my MP friend from St Elizabeth, I am also calling for an additional ministry. I believe that education is of such vital importance to the country, and of such magnitude, that we ought to have a separate ministry devoted to junior education from the basic school level to the secondary level.

If we can’t get it right at this level, then pretty soon, if not already, tertiary and university education, in the purest sense of the word, will become a hallucination. The fact is that a significant number of our university students do poorly in English language as any sample of the entry tests will indicate. Our education system has a built-in mode that recognises and rewards school successes in GSAT, CSEC and CAPE earned for their schools by the brighter students. But we are going to be in for a long struggle with English language and math adequacies — the pillars of any education syllabus — if we don’t provide the necessary financial and administrative resources for a firm grounding at early childhood level in reading, spelling, and ‘sums’. Hence the suggestion for a single ministry at that level, responsible for handing over a solid educated corps of secondary graduates to the ‘senior’ Ministry of Education responsible for colleges, universities, and beyond.

So my humble suggestion is to add one, and take out four; eliminating single ministries for entertainment, sports, youth and culture, information. These are ministries that can easily be subsumed into other departments and still get the work done, for less.

We have seen where shuffling a Cabinet has not always worked. Two friends of mine were commenting on another friend’s bad luck at Caymanas. “Funny,” said one, “how lucky Ralston is at dominos and how unlucky at the track.”

“Nothing funny about it,” replied the other. “They won’t let him shuffle the horses.”

I do not expect the prime minister to do any reshuffling at this time. She will be concentrating on naming a replacement for her late minister of agriculture and good friend, Roger Clarke. This is a difficult period for her. Sometimes we think we know everything, and from our safe comfortable armchairs we are free with our advice, asked for or not. And again, sometimes we chat too much, and interrupt too frequently.

A politician was once giving a speech when a man in the crowd shouted, “Louder!” He raised his voice, but the man yelled “Louder!” again. The politician went up a few decibels, and his voice stretched out to the edge of the schoolroom. When the man called “Louder!” for a third time, the politician paused for a moment and then continued:

“My friends, the time will finally come when the vast machinery of this universe must stop, and all the wheels, gears and belts will be motionless, and the defined periods of time are lost in eternity.

“In that awful hour, my friends, the angel Gabriel will descend from heaven and place one foot on the land and the other on the sea. He will force a blast from his trumpet, which will reverberate throughout the remotest corners of the universe. And when he does, you bet your life that some little idiot is going to bawl out “Louder! Louder!”

Lance Neita is a public relations and communications specialist. Comments to the Observer or to lanceneita@hotmail.com