Dear Editor,

I was once an ardent supporter of Jamaica transitioning to a republic in hopes of finalising independence from its former colonial overlords, Britain.

I had hoped that we would have a president that is democratically elected, a shift from the tyranny of the Westminster duopoly, and a move to a German-US type congressional style legislature in which multiple parties could operate, compete, and make coalitions. But when the same duopoly of the Westminster system is presiding over the affairs, the very same system that engages in unconstitutional conduct, and watching special interest groups battle over amendments, I think that keeping King Charles III as our king is a lot better than what I believe will be the alternative.

To much fanfare Prime Minister Andrew Holness has named a 15-member Constitutional Reform Committee, but there wasn’t much response except from the more educated people who reside in gated communities. More shockingly, the wider public, who would definitely be affected by the constitutional reforms, has been largely quiet about it. This is a red flag in my opinion as these talks are not simply political babble but real talks on not only the direction of the country but the relationship between the Government and the citizens and how the Government conducts itself.

If the people are not aware of the provisions of this new constitution, they run the risks of losing rights they now take for granted and the remaining guard rails placed on the Government and Opposition, especially when both parties have a history of abusing their powers but have a say in constitutional reforms.

Furthermore, there seems to be a rush to turn the country into a republic and have a local head of State. Very little attention is given to the fact that this head of State (a president, if you may) may not have any functions except for being a glorified figurehead selected by whomever goes first past the post, similar to the post of prime minister who, looking at the current constitution, gets to decide who gets what job and other overarching powers, with the governor general and The King as glorified rubber stamps.

Very little attention is given to the fact that, while people may criticise the US justice system for letting former US President Donald Trump escape impeachment twice, we scarcely have any disciplinary measures for our representatives, which manifests in not only unparliamentary conduct but corruption trials that seem to have no verdict in sight.

Very little has been said about the Disaster Risk Management Act, which provides significant penalties for those who ignore government dictates during an emergency but has given carte blanche to those who are privileged enough to be in Gordon House to do literally anything with impunity. Very little is said about the fact that the electoral process only allows us to choose Members of Parliament (MPs) but the important posts of prime minister and Opposition leader are chosen by party members, who most likely make their decisions based on personal interests. A similar situation will result if we allow the president to be selected and not elected. And very little is said about the fact that MPs can become ministers within the executive to be shuffled around at will, when elected MPs should remain as such and the ministers chosen from of a pool of industry experts.

And just when you think that civil society groups would look at this and try to correct it, we have Christian groups that have a problem with Professor Richard Albert out of fear that his pro-LGBTQ and abortion stance would influence how LGBTQ and abortion issues are treated in the constitution, not the fact that we run the risk of creating an autocracy in Jamaica if we do not get the constitutional reforms right overall. This shows that civil society groups, at the core, are special interest groups which will only battle over whatever spoils their demographic might win legally, not for the betterment of all Jamaicans. If they cared about saving or helping Jamaica in the first place, they would be asking the constitutional committee to include reforms to change how Gordon House operates.

Given this context, it is better to postpone the constitutional reforms until Jamaica is more developed and its citizens more educated and more involved in the process as this seems more like a partisan fight rather than a discussion on how the country goes forward.

Marcus White

whitemarc918@gmail.com