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Logical Point, But....
Our failure to have amendments to our Constitution, a document that was drawn up some 47 years ago, is not surprising in the same way that it was not surprising that Jamaica, as one of the obvious sprint powers on the planet, failed until the very last minute to have an official drug policy in place last year!!
Failures like these can be spelled out in two very simple words: “Backwardness” (and) “Laziness”!
Now, please don’t tell me that there is nothing that necessitates change in a Constitution that was drawn up almost fifty years ago, and in a society that has changed in such dramatic ways socially, economically and politically since then that it’s almost unrecognizable today!
As far as this thread is concerned, we clearly need to amend that article of the Constitution that makes it unlawful for certain Jamaicans (those possessing dual citizenship) to serve in Parliament. Certainly, as far as the posts of prime minister and deputy minister are concerned, there should be no wavering about those posts, as only persons possessing one passport (a Jamaican passport) should be eligible for these two posts.
But what of the other lawmakers in our parliament in a context where many of our most outstanding citizenry, for one reason or another, have found themselves with a second passport? Do we realize the talent that we are shutting out because of our (legendary) tendency to procrastinate??!!
Originally posted by Mosiah
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Our failure to have amendments to our Constitution, a document that was drawn up some 47 years ago, is not surprising in the same way that it was not surprising that Jamaica, as one of the obvious sprint powers on the planet, failed until the very last minute to have an official drug policy in place last year!!
Failures like these can be spelled out in two very simple words: “Backwardness” (and) “Laziness”!
Now, please don’t tell me that there is nothing that necessitates change in a Constitution that was drawn up almost fifty years ago, and in a society that has changed in such dramatic ways socially, economically and politically since then that it’s almost unrecognizable today!
As far as this thread is concerned, we clearly need to amend that article of the Constitution that makes it unlawful for certain Jamaicans (those possessing dual citizenship) to serve in Parliament. Certainly, as far as the posts of prime minister and deputy minister are concerned, there should be no wavering about those posts, as only persons possessing one passport (a Jamaican passport) should be eligible for these two posts.
But what of the other lawmakers in our parliament in a context where many of our most outstanding citizenry, for one reason or another, have found themselves with a second passport? Do we realize the talent that we are shutting out because of our (legendary) tendency to procrastinate??!!
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