Dear Editor,

The last count says there are over 1.9 million people on the voters’ list, and I can tell you right now that less than one per cent of these voters will ever get the privileges of a parliamentarian, and that is quite understood.

A parliamentarian is given VIP treatment and protection and is accorded the respect that the office is due. Each and every Member of Parliament (MP) represents, on average, 30,000-plus Jamaicans from each of Jamaica’s 63 constituencies. They also make up the legislative body that assesses and passes laws in Jamaica.

A very important law was passed called the Integrity Commission Act, which, it seems, was aimed at making sure that, although our lawmakers/parliamentarian/MPs and prime minister had certain privileges, there were provisions to ensure that if these privileged people abused their positions to, for example, gain illicit wealth, they would be subjected to the same laws as every ordinary citizen of Jamaica. The constitution of Jamaica even suggests that there are no untouchables, but that document failed to include impeachment procedures, and I still wonder why.

The questionable “gag clause” has a purpose in the Integrity Commission Act, but it gets dangerous when the very people who could run afoul of the Act can themselves prevent the tabling of reports about their actions to Parliament.

This is can be likened to a citizen telling a police officer to stand down when he/she faces arrest. There is the case of the Hanover MP who made such efforts to quash reports into his own actions and other members of his family.

In this debate concerning this gag clause, the prime minister wants us to think that his reputation, or that of any other MP, is somehow more important that the sky juice vendor’s. He uses the word due process, but isn’t every Jamaican from every class, colour, creed, and economic status entitled to due process?

I am not in the business of highlighting anyone under investigation for any crime, be it the prime minister or sky juice vendors. What I want is a system that ensures everyone gets due process.

Mark Trought

marktrought@gmail.com