Dear Editor,

Jamaica is a unitary sovereign state, operating under a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. This means that power is centralised in a single national Government, not divided among any local or regional entities.

Jamaica does not operate coalition governments and there is one Government at a time. These governments are selected at general elections with the “first past the post” system.

Prime ministers are appointed by the governor general based on which Member of Parliament (MP) wining party secures the confidence of the majority of his/her fellow MPs. It is important to establish these facts, as events are unfolding which seem to contradict these manifestly clear realities.

In 2021, Colonel-in-Chief Richard Currie was filmed in a confrontation with Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) members. Following the incident, Currie stated his intent to defend his people with modern weaponry if needed.

In 2022, he publicly clashed with Prime Minister Andrew Holness over Maroon sovereignty, to which Holness responded that Jamaica contains no other independent state.

Last week both men toured damaged parts of Accompong and discussed how the Jamaican State will aid in recovery. An offer of building materials and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) engineering support was made. Currie accepted the building materials but rejected the engineering support because he does not want “the militarisation of the space”.

What is Richard Currie saying? Does he not know the difference between engineers who wear a uniform and infantry who are trained in and practice the art of warfare?

There is something very peculiar about Currie. He is the first Maroon chief I can recall who has had such an openly confrontational and frosty relationship with a Jamaican prime minister. One wonders what motivates him.

Incidentally, he is, I beleive, also the first to appear on a political platform at a party conference, as he did on September 15, 2024. I will not name the party, but the footage is widely available. One wonders if the two things are related.

Mark Golding and the People’s National Party (PNP) lost the general election held on September 3, 2025. However, he did manage to make significant inroads as the PNP’s seat count has increased to 28 from a paltry 14. But Opposition Leader Golding continues to say strange things. Last Tuesday he issued an ominous warning. Pointing his index finger directly at Holness, Golding stated that the PNP represents the votes of approximately 400,000 electors across 28 constituencies, and Holness would be “well advised… to seek in a genuine way” the Opposition’s participation in the recovery effort.

No reasonable person would object to the Opposition playing a role in the relief and recovery efforts, whether from an oversight or a coordination standpoint.

Recall that the Opposition rejected an invitation to sit on a parliamentary committee to oversee recovery efforts.

What is very strange is the posture of Opposition Leader Golding. Jamaica has one prime minister at a time, and elections have consequences. If Golding is not satisfied that Holness’s efforts to include the Opposition are not “genuine”, what exactly does he plan to do? Gather the PNP supporters and form a Government somewhere in the Caribbean Sea? He should tell us.

There is no co-prime minister, and Jamaica does not operate coalition governments. Parliamentary Oppositions do not have the authority to govern or instruct sitting governments on how to operate. They certainly should not use threatening language to make demands of the head of Government. You accept the offered seat at the table, then continue to advocate for more and better from that seat.

If the recovery efforts go left, nobody will be eager to remember that the Opposition was party to the decision-making, it will be the Government who will, rightly, be blamed. Opposition Leader Golding would be well advised to remember this.

I hope good sense prevails; anarchy and separatism benefits no one.

Oyeton Clarke

oyetonclarke@gmail.com