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Why we need the likes of an Abe Dabdoub
lloyd b smith
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Attorney-at-law Abe Dabdoub has been one of Jamaica's most controversial politicians. But hate him or love him as we might, he can best be described as a necessary evil. Indeed, very few politicians in Jamaica at this time can do the things he does and get away with them. Some see him as a maverick, others as a loose cannon; while others dismiss him as an opportunist and some maintain that he is a troublemaker, and for some that feisty party renegade is best described as the gadfly in the island's political arena if not the fly in the ointment.
And if you ask me, every healthy, well-meaning democracy needs an Abe Dabdoub. His methods may be irritating and discombobulating but in the final analysis, he makes us wake up and think as well as act. His latest foray into our now seemingly fragile parliamentary democratic system, whereby he has successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to rule that West Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz was ineligible to represent that constituency by virtue of his holding dual citizenship has indeed set the cat among the pigeons.
Then to add fuel to the fire, if he carries out his threat to go to the Court of Appeal and request that Vaz be sent packing and he therefore takes the seat by default, Jamaica Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding will no doubt call a snap election and thus plunge the country into another tailspin of uncertainty, with the spectre of political violence coming to the fore.
In this scenario, Mr Dabdoub is being painted as the villain of the piece. To Labourites, he is seeking to usurp the will of the people of West Portland. To Comrades, on the surface, claim that the law must be upheld. But why only now are they taking that position? So much for hypocrisy and political expediency! After all, back in the late 90s when then prime minister and People's National Party leader, P J Patterson, by a wave of the hand declared a national holiday in the wake of the Reggae Boyz qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, he told his detractors the law was not a shackle. Our politicians are known to ignore the requirements of the Integrity Act and even in declaring their election expenses as required by law, they lie through their teeth.
Lest we forget, our members of parliament are not just political representatives. They are legislators and the House of Parliament is the supreme dispenser of the law. All parliamentarians are therefore required to not just be a part of enacting legislation but must be the primary upholders of the law. Therefore, if the Jamaican Constitution says anyone holding dual citizenship should not be allowed to seek to represent the people by way of the ballot, then that is a done deal. Mr Dabdoub's petition was unquestionably a legitimate move and he had the right to pursue that matter as he has done and intends to continue doing by way of appeal.
This business of talking from both corners of our mouth is setting a bad precedent for generations of Jamaicans to come. The law may be an ass at times, yes, but to throw it aside on the basis of expediency or convenience is a dangerous proposition which can engender deleterious consequences in the long run.
The subsequent resignation of Danville Walker as director of elections based on his being a dual citizen has further legitimised what Dabdoub has set out to do, and the possible domino effect is likely to begin anytime now. The bottom line is that the law must be held sacrosanct and in this scenario the only correct thing to do is for all those politicians who are so guilty to resign their respective positions and allow for due process. Yes, the fallout may be tremendous, especially for the governing JLP, but we cannot continue to have our cake and eat it. Mr Golding and Mrs Portia Simpson Miller should instruct all such MPs in their respective parties to do the right thing. I suspect that in real terms we may well have not just some bogus MPs but a bogus Parliament to boot!
Someone once described democracy as akin to ten sheep sitting down to lunch with two lions. Those who insist that the views and will of the majority must always hold sway do our democracy an injustice. What about protecting the minority from the tyranny of the majority? In the current Jamaican situation, the Jamaican people who are the sheep are being asked to sit down to lunch with the JLP and PNP and for them to decide what should be the main course. This dolly house must be smashed! It is the will of the people that must prevail within the confines of the law.
It is well known that as big and overbearing as elephants are, they are said to be easily terrified by mice. In this case, the two elephants of our political system, the JLP and the PNP, have been sent into a tizzy by that squeaking mouse Abe Dabdoub. Even as we wait with bated breath to see what happens next in this continuing saga, ultimately, it will be up to history to determine whether Mr Dabdoub was nothing more than a cantankerous "mus-mus"(Jamaican dialect for a mouse). In the meantime, Mr Dabdoub's political ambition is not the real issue. In the final analysis, all of this boils down to upholding the letter of the law so that justice may be properly served. Our parliamentarians as lawmakers must lead by example rather than by precept, starting, of course, with the chief servant.
- lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
lloyd b smith
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Attorney-at-law Abe Dabdoub has been one of Jamaica's most controversial politicians. But hate him or love him as we might, he can best be described as a necessary evil. Indeed, very few politicians in Jamaica at this time can do the things he does and get away with them. Some see him as a maverick, others as a loose cannon; while others dismiss him as an opportunist and some maintain that he is a troublemaker, and for some that feisty party renegade is best described as the gadfly in the island's political arena if not the fly in the ointment.
And if you ask me, every healthy, well-meaning democracy needs an Abe Dabdoub. His methods may be irritating and discombobulating but in the final analysis, he makes us wake up and think as well as act. His latest foray into our now seemingly fragile parliamentary democratic system, whereby he has successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to rule that West Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz was ineligible to represent that constituency by virtue of his holding dual citizenship has indeed set the cat among the pigeons.
Then to add fuel to the fire, if he carries out his threat to go to the Court of Appeal and request that Vaz be sent packing and he therefore takes the seat by default, Jamaica Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding will no doubt call a snap election and thus plunge the country into another tailspin of uncertainty, with the spectre of political violence coming to the fore.
In this scenario, Mr Dabdoub is being painted as the villain of the piece. To Labourites, he is seeking to usurp the will of the people of West Portland. To Comrades, on the surface, claim that the law must be upheld. But why only now are they taking that position? So much for hypocrisy and political expediency! After all, back in the late 90s when then prime minister and People's National Party leader, P J Patterson, by a wave of the hand declared a national holiday in the wake of the Reggae Boyz qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, he told his detractors the law was not a shackle. Our politicians are known to ignore the requirements of the Integrity Act and even in declaring their election expenses as required by law, they lie through their teeth.
Lest we forget, our members of parliament are not just political representatives. They are legislators and the House of Parliament is the supreme dispenser of the law. All parliamentarians are therefore required to not just be a part of enacting legislation but must be the primary upholders of the law. Therefore, if the Jamaican Constitution says anyone holding dual citizenship should not be allowed to seek to represent the people by way of the ballot, then that is a done deal. Mr Dabdoub's petition was unquestionably a legitimate move and he had the right to pursue that matter as he has done and intends to continue doing by way of appeal.
This business of talking from both corners of our mouth is setting a bad precedent for generations of Jamaicans to come. The law may be an ass at times, yes, but to throw it aside on the basis of expediency or convenience is a dangerous proposition which can engender deleterious consequences in the long run.
The subsequent resignation of Danville Walker as director of elections based on his being a dual citizen has further legitimised what Dabdoub has set out to do, and the possible domino effect is likely to begin anytime now. The bottom line is that the law must be held sacrosanct and in this scenario the only correct thing to do is for all those politicians who are so guilty to resign their respective positions and allow for due process. Yes, the fallout may be tremendous, especially for the governing JLP, but we cannot continue to have our cake and eat it. Mr Golding and Mrs Portia Simpson Miller should instruct all such MPs in their respective parties to do the right thing. I suspect that in real terms we may well have not just some bogus MPs but a bogus Parliament to boot!
Someone once described democracy as akin to ten sheep sitting down to lunch with two lions. Those who insist that the views and will of the majority must always hold sway do our democracy an injustice. What about protecting the minority from the tyranny of the majority? In the current Jamaican situation, the Jamaican people who are the sheep are being asked to sit down to lunch with the JLP and PNP and for them to decide what should be the main course. This dolly house must be smashed! It is the will of the people that must prevail within the confines of the law.
It is well known that as big and overbearing as elephants are, they are said to be easily terrified by mice. In this case, the two elephants of our political system, the JLP and the PNP, have been sent into a tizzy by that squeaking mouse Abe Dabdoub. Even as we wait with bated breath to see what happens next in this continuing saga, ultimately, it will be up to history to determine whether Mr Dabdoub was nothing more than a cantankerous "mus-mus"(Jamaican dialect for a mouse). In the meantime, Mr Dabdoub's political ambition is not the real issue. In the final analysis, all of this boils down to upholding the letter of the law so that justice may be properly served. Our parliamentarians as lawmakers must lead by example rather than by precept, starting, of course, with the chief servant.
- lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
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