Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) civil society representative Dr Nadeen Spence on Tuesday dismissed as untrue an insistence by the People’s National Party (PNP) that the final report of that body, which was submitted to the Cabinet, was not in keeping with positions advanced by Opposition members, hence their decision not to sign.

The Cabinet on Monday announced that it had begun a “thorough and meticulous process of review, ensuring that all aspects of the report are carefully considered”. That report, however, was not signed by the representatives of the Opposition assigned to the 15-member body.

Tuesday, Opposition committee member Anthony Hylton, speaking during a press briefing called by PNP President Mark Golding, said the document sent to Cabinet was not the same one that Opposition members perused last Thursday.

Hylton, who told the briefing that he had “kept the committee informed that the leader and the party wanted to know what was in the final or near-final document” said, “What we saw as the final document, changes were made to it…we could not sign because we knew some of the positions in the document were contrary to long-standing PNP policy”.

He called for the minutes of the CRC to be made public.

“It will show that we made consistent argument that there should be dialogue…We couldn’t sign it just so. We are saying we participated in good faith, we couldn’t sign off because there are issues remaining to be resolved and the party must have its say on the document before we are able to sign,” Hylton maintained.

But Spence, speaking with the Jamaica Observer following that briefing, said the report submitted to Cabinet was far from skewed.

“That’s not true, there was one version of the report that we were all working with. When the report was in its final stage and it came to us, maybe about five or six weeks ago, the Minister [of Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte] said because it’s a draft and we were just reading it, she placed an embargo on it and said we would get it in the meeting because the recommendations need to be looked at by all the members. So when we met we were going through the embargoed report, all of us as a collective,” Spence said.

“At a point the Opposition members said they needed to take the report to their leader before they could make any definitive statement on the recommendations, bearing in mind that they were arrived at over our year of deliberations. The minister gave permission for them to take the report to the leader of the Opposition,” she said.

“The deliberations of the committee have all been, up to this point, in an atmosphere of consensus. We agreed that we wouldn’t move from a position unless everything was agreed. When it was to be signed the last day, [Opposition] member Donna Scott Mottley raised an issue with a point in the report and it was changed to reflect the position she had. What they are talking about, I don’t know of that. I haven’t missed any meeting and I haven’t seen any of that,” Dr Spence said.

She said the report in no way alters the requirement for “consensus” as far as changes to the constitution are concerned.

“Our constitution says Opposition and Government must unite to bring certain changes. That’s a given, which is why the discussions were had in the way they were. If you ask me, the entire document is one that was seeking to meet the needs of the Opposition,” Dr Spence said.

In further pointing out that the present committee was deliberating recommendations of the 1995 Joint Select Committee on Constitutional and Electoral Reform, which was done at the time the PNP formed the Government, Spence said the only departure in stance in the report sent to Cabinet centred on the proposals for impeachment of government officials.

“The terms of reference said we are reviewing those proposals, and where it is necessary for them to be updated, [then those changes would be made], the leader of the Opposition knew…for over a year. There is nothing new. It is a submission to Cabinet, it has to now go to Parliament where the Opposition has all the time to debate, and it must go to a joint select committee and all of that. Parliament will have to debate the Bill when it is drafted,” she pointed out.

Golding, on Tuesday, in throwing down the gauntlet to the Andrew Holness-led Government, warned that if the Administration ignores the Opposition’s concerns and pushes ahead with the constitutional reform agenda on its own, the Opposition is prepared to use its powers under the constitution to stall the process.

Highlighting some 17 clauses in the draft CRC report which are of grave concern, Golding said, “If they want to push forward without the Opposition on board, they can do so, we can’t stop them, but we know that when it comes to Parliament we have a responsibility and the constitution gives us certain powers and we will be exercising those powers in due course if we can’t arrive at consensus.”

“It would make sense to…bring us back to the table and try to resolve those issues so we can go forward together,” he added.

According to the Opposition leader, the rush to take the report to Cabinet without allowing the committee to deliberate its documented concerns which were sent last Friday shows that the Government has no genuine desire to achieve consensus on the content of the new constitution.

“The Government is seeking to shift blame to the Opposition for its failure to engage authentically with the Opposition to identify a common pathway forward. The public should not be hoodwinked,” Golding said.

In the meantime, he accused Prime Minister Holness of reneging on his promise in October last year to indicate a clear position on the issue of Jamaica moving away from the Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice as a final appellate court.

“Three weeks ago I discussed with the PM and he said he would be considering the matter and would let us know where he stands. I didn’t hear from him and I wrote to him a week ago requesting him to make his position known. The PNP cannot sign off on a report that does not facilitate us moving forward with a bipartisan approach. We are concerned about several of the proposals which we regard as problematic in several respects,” Golding said.

Holness, in April last year, named the members of the CRC, which is co-chaired by Malahoo Forte and Ambassador Rocky Meade. The body, among other things, is required to assess how the passage of time has impacted the recommendations of the 1995 Joint Select Committee on the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Report. The Government intends to hold a referendum relating to Jamaica’s proposed transition to a republic. The work is being done in three phases.

According to Golding, the report, as it stands, will, among other things, allow the Government of the day to use its majority in Parliament to install a president without the consensus of the Opposition.

“This is unacceptable…the president has important powers…it is vital that the president must be someone who enjoys the trust and confidence of both political parties and the wider government. The report will allow the Government of the day to extend the life of the Parliament beyond five years, we do not think any Government should have that power on its own. The report does nothing to strengthen accountability within Parliament,” Golding said.

The Opposition, in the meantime, said the public was also shafted as “the public consultations which occurred have really had little significant impact on the content of the proposals in the CRC report which went to Cabinet for approval”.

“The wide-ranging desires and concerns of the public for Jamaica’s constitution have not found their way into any significant reform proposals in that document,” Golding maintained.