As more Jamaicans demand to have a say in the annual budgetary process, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke is cautioning against doing so at the risk of bypassing the role of parliamentarians in representing the views of their constituents.

Speaking on a Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) forum which tackled the question of whether participatory budgeting can improve democracy and good governance, Dr Clarke said, “By participating in this forum I don’t want to give the impression that representation doesn’t work and maybe one of the questions we need to have at the national level is how we can make representation work more effectively, rather than seeking to bypass representation.”

He argued that the participation he would like to see is more at the local level than at the national level. He explained that budgetary participation from citizens at the national level would make the role of parliamentarians redundant.

“For you to have a participatory budget process at the national level, you’d have to have a national conversation because it would be allocating funds nationally…you wouldn’t want just Kingston voices to be heard in that nor would you want Westmoreland voices alone to be heard. The best place for that is Parliament. We already have the system in place; for you to replicate what Parliament does would be redundant and that’s why at the national level it’s probably not as appropriate, not as needed,” the finance minister argued.

He continued, “What we need at the national level is better understanding of the national budget. At the local level the opportunity exists because you can actually convene people in Clarendon to talk about which drains need to be cleaned before the hurricane season, what we should do about students who can’t afford university fees, how much we set intervention at, etc. The way technology is going, it’s certainly possible in the future that we could have national consultations digitally but, again, I really think that at the national level it really encroaches on the space of Parliament there and it begins to introduce deeper questions.”

Executive director of JAMP Jeanette Calder noted that there is a role for parliamentarians to play in the budgetary process, especially when it comes to representing the views of their constituents. However, she argued that the process can be improved if the Government finds a way to include the voices of more ordinary citizens in the decision-making process.

“When we think national in Jamaica, it’s three million people strong and it’s a certain geographic space, but when you think about it, if you look at the models in Uganda and Brazil, their local is kinda close to our national. So the idea that their local could be 11 million people — just the city of Bogotá alone for a mayor to take on these issues is three or four times that of Jamaica in terms of population and budget. It’s more of a question to you to say is it a matter of perspective the way we think and view national here. Because if those countries can do it at a participatory level with a bigger budget and a bigger population because for them it’s local, wouldn’t we be able to use that model but apply it on the national scale and make it work?” Calder quizzed the finance minister.

At the same time, she criticised political representatives for not doing more to find out the views of their constituents. This, in response to a claim from Dr Clarke that “the middle class have retreated from the political space; they don’t engage with parliamentarians except to complain about roads.

“Civil society groups are predominantly led by the middle class. To what extent are we perpetuating the absence of the middle class in the parliamentary process?” he asked further.

Calder maintained: “I would like to see more coming from the parliamentarians in terms of how they are engaging. I think they know that the people who are coming out now are a certain category of voters. So, my question is: Have you asked yourselves as parliamentarians what are the middle class interested in talking about? Because beyond roads, I find that they are very interested in governance issues, in constitutional issues; not necessarily the bread and butter, needing help with school or help to bury a relative. The beauty of where we are is that we have case studies. What you just described is not something that would be unique to Jamaica. All I will say is I want to encourage us to look at how other countries have dealt with that.”

Similarly, Ingrid Parchment of the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) noted, “I don’t think because at the national level it is difficult that we shouldn’t look at it and I’ll say that people need to be careful of the process…I think we should have ongoing activities. There are some middle-class people who want to be involved and there are some who do not want to be involved, but being involved or not, you should have the opportunity and that is what I’m looking at.”

At the same time, Dr Clarke disclosed that a significant portion of the budget is not up for debate due to certain fiscal allocations which must be paid.

“So much of our budget is fixed. It’s one of the challenge of being a developing country, the degree of latitude that we have is less than other countries. Wage and salaries is touching $300 billion, interest is $136 billion, amortisation in any given year is $200 billion — there you’re up at $730 billion already. Those are fixed, there’s no amount of participation that is really going to change any of those. What’s truly discretionary is a small amount, even at the national level,” he outlined.

He further highlighted that citizens are allowed to participate in the budgetary process through public bodies.

“The budget of public bodies is just under $500 billion and public bodies have boards that are constituted from civil society. It is those boards that ultimately sign off on the budget of public bodies which have to finally be approved by Parliament. But within that process we have participation in the allocation of significant amount of resources and coupled with the reform of the nomination, selection and appointment of board members for public bodies that will make that process more transparent, inclusive and allow persons to nominate themselves. I would put to this forum that that is taking us a step forward in having greater participation in the allocation of resources,” Dr Clarke argued.

In an effort to improve public participation in the budget, the Ministry of Finance and Public Service has created a citizens guide to the budget which is geared towards simplifying it and making it is easily accessible and understandable for Jamaican citizens.

Dr Clarke said, “The more Jamaicans understand the budgetary process and budget, the easier my job becomes.”

However, he contends “there’s not a common understanding of what the constraints are”.

In the meantime, Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson has called for more transparency in how public funds are used.

“Where I see the benefit of this exercise [participatory budgeting] is the trust that you build when you are open about how government funds are being spent and when you seek input [from constituents] in that process,” said Robinson.

To that end, he noted, “The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) office which operates out of the OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) would have to invigilate and ensure that everybody complies. Some people do; I don’t think it’s uniform across the board. I think they have to put down their foot and say if you don’t hold the consultation then the funds cannot be spent so I don’t think there’s any way around that.”