“Taxation without representation is tyranny.” This was the view American colonists held when they were being commandeered to pay taxes to the British Crown as levied by Parliament, although they were not directly represented in that legislative body.

In this vein, it was posited by Daniel Dulaney, an attorney from Maryland, that “in theory, Parliament had the right to levy taxes in Britain because its members acted in the name and for the interest of the entire realm. Every Englishman was virtually represented in Parliament, whether or not he had actually participated in choosing its members. American colonists generally rejected the notion of virtual representation. Their view of representation was based on the idea that delegates elected by voters to the local legislative assembly should represent the concerns of their constituents in a particular geographic locality. Since no men elected in North America sat in Parliament, that body could not fairly represent the colonists and thus could not levy taxes on people it did not represent”. It was this imbroglio that eventually led to a permanent cessation from Great Britain and the ultimate establishment of the United States of America (USA).

Jamaica, too, was a colony of Great Britain and even after gaining political Independence in 1962, instead of going full blast into republican status as did the USA, our legislators and framers of the constitution opted to remain in what was dubbed the British Commonwealth of Nations with Queen Elizabeth II assuming the role of head of State and the prime minister the head of Government. The governor general, procedurally, then became Her Majesty’s representative and this ‘circus maximus’ is now going into its 60th year without any meaningful indication from successive governments that there is a determination to say bye-bye to Missis Queen.

Trapped by the vestiges of its colonial past, Jamaica now has a form of government that in essence has helped to perpetuate the uncomfortable reality of “taxation without representation”.

Let us not fool ourselves, the 63 Members of Parliament (MP), though elected by their constituents — in most cases a minority — do not in real terms represent them. In this context, the term House of Representatives is a misnomer because in practice, while the Jamaican Constitution does not recognise political parties, each Member of Parliament (MP) is either a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) or People’s National Party (PNP) representative. Ironically, in this context, MP George Wright’s so-called independent status is the closest we have got so far to a politician truly representing his constituents and not a party. But, then again, we all know that this, in essence, is a charade.

To put it bluntly, our highly touted Westminster parliamentary democracy is a sick joke. What our founding fathers did was to copy the British system of having a House of Commons and a House of Lords. So, in an almost watered-down way our House of Representatives apes the House of Commons, while our Senate, to a large extent, is a pale reflection of the House of Lords. Hence, the House of Representatives is referred to as the Lower House while the Senate is referred to as the Upper House, although everyone sits in the same chamber. What poppycock!

In this most wretched of arrangements, there is no independent voice in either House. In other words, every Member has to tow the party line or face serious consequences prescribed by the grotesque unwritten conventions as promulgated by the political parties. In this vein, Parliament is nothing but a rubber stamp and it is the executive that really rules the roost and calls the shots. That is why there is a Parliamentary Whip whose main task is to whip his or her colleagues into shape, in terms of providing support on matters of legislations being passed and adopted.

Readers may recall that infamous incident when Portia Simpson-Miller defied her party’s decision and did not support a particular motion before the Lower House. She was pilloried by some of her colleagues and called some most unsavoury names. I well recall a similar scenario when I was a PNP Member of Parliament and JLP MP Michael “Mike” Henry had a motion re reparation on the table. Needless to say, when the time came to vote, about three PNP MPs, including myself, either voted on the side of the motion sponsored by JLP Henry or abstained. At the end of the session, we were summoned by the Leader of Government Business Phillip Paulwell and other senior Members and upbraided for the independent positions we took. I will never forget the late Dr D K Duncan, who, in sympathy with our political naivete, suggested that the next time one of us was not in favour of a motion or did not wish to follow party lines we should head to the restroom prior to the voting procedure.

Almost daily on various talk shows and in most print media publications there are numerous complaints coming from aggrieved citizens whose political representatives have failed to provide them with effective representation, because the sad truth is that unless an MP is a minister or is highly favoured by a minister, he or she has to stand in line and suffer the consequences of being ignored or ‘punished’.

Bruce Golding saw this calamity and tried to address it politically by forming the National Democratic Movement (NDM), whose mantras were separation of powers, direct election of the prime minister, term limit, and a system of government that would have a procedure for recall and impeachment of public officials, especially parliamentarians.

I would go further to suggest that we should move towards proportional representation which would ensure that elected officials truly represent their constituents. But, alas, Jamaicans for the most part have not bought into this better way forward, so we continue to wallow in the morass where partisan politics holds sway, even as corruption remains the order of the day and public officials, for the most part, get away with blue murder.

The time has come when, like those revolutionary American colonists, all well-thinking Jamaicans should declare that “taxation without representation is tyranny” and should be expunged from the body politic.

But, to date, with the exception of Bruce Golding, no Jamaican political leader has had the cojones to take the bull by the horns. You, Golding, played a pivotal role in the ascendancy of Andrew Michael Holness to the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party and to the hallowed position of prime minister. Now more than ever Jamaica needs transformational leadership. Perhaps it is time to whisper in Holness’s ear: “Time come!”

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 45 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica, where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.