CITIZENS Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) has expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which prime ministers have mishandled their power to set the dates for parliamentary and local government by-elections, and has suggested an amendment in the law to prevent what it describes as an “unprincipled manipulation” of the process.

“There is no constitutional principle or valid grounds for conferring on the prime minister an uncontrolled discretion to delay the filling of such vacancies for indefinite periods,” the voluntary civic organisation said in a news release on Monday.

“CAFFE considers that the holding of by-elections created by vacancies that may arise among the elected Members of Parliament and municipal corporations should be within a prescribed period from the time the vacancy arises, and that the constitution should be amended, if necessary, to give effect to this,” the group added.

Last Wednesday, a day after Marsha Smith resigned as Member of Parliament for St Ann North Eastern, Prime Minister Andrew Holness used a post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House to announce that Matthew Samuda had resigned from the Upper House and the Cabinet — in which he served as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Samuda’s resignation, which Holness said was submitted on Monday, paved the way for him to contest the by-election for a seat in the Lower House. The vote is set for September 30 with nomination day scheduled for Wednesday, September 11.

In response, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said his People’s National Party (PNP) is currently preparing for the next general election to enable Jamaicans to vote in a new government, and as such will not be contesting by-elections at this late stage in the run-up to the general election scheduled for September 2025.

“The People’s National Party remains steadfast in our mission to protect and strengthen Jamaica’s democracy. We will not enter any process that seeks to undermine the very principles we hold dearly. Instead, we will focus on ensuring that every Jamaican has a voice and that every constituency is treated with the fairness and respect it deserves,” Golding said.

Pointing to the constituency of Trelawny Southern which has been without a parliamentary representative for a full year, Golding said: “It is striking and unprecedented that this by-election was announced less than 24 hours after the resignation of the Member of Parliament.”

Added Golding: “The prime minister has clearly orchestrated the holding of this by-election, which is a slap in the face of the electors of Southern Trelawny who have had no parliamentary representative for a full year — a quarter of the life of this House of Representatives. It is also a slap in the face of the people of Morant Bay whose right to elect a councillor within 90 days of a vacancy was abridged by the Holness Administration using an amendment to the Representation of the People Act, a by-election which is legally due now.”

On Monday CAFFE pointed to the vacancies in Trelawny Southern and the Morant Bay Division in St Thomas Municipal Corporation, stating that no mention was made of them when Holness announced the St Ann North Eastern by-election.

“This is a clear manipulation of the electoral process in the interests of the governing party rather than upholding the principles of democracy,” CAFFE said.

“The right to representation is a fundamental right of citizens and the foundation of democracy. It should not be seen to be politically manipulated or compromised,” the group added.

It said if its suggestion is accepted that the law be changed for by-elections to be called within a prescribed period from the time the vacancy arises, “the Electoral Commission of Jamaica should be the entity that sets the dates, thus removing this responsibility from the political head of Government [and] with it all the opportunities for its improper or unprincipled manipulation”.

The group also called on the prime minister to arrange for the holding of by-elections for Trelawny Southern and the Morant Bay Division.

Last Wednesday, Holness, in response to a question from journalists, said by-elections in both seats, as well as in St Andrew North Western which will become vacant when Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke takes up his new post at International Monetary Fund in October, will be held “within months”.