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Unconscionable political prenuptial agreement
Published: Monday | November 18, 2013 5 Comments
Christopher Tufton (right) and Opposition Leader Andrew Holness are no longer seeing eye to eye. - FILE
Bert Samuels, GUEST COLUMNIST
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Bert Samuels, GUEST COLUMNIST
The revelation by Senator Arthur Williams that at least seven opposition senators - when being considered for appointment to our Upper House of Parliament - were required to sign undated letters of resignation has sent shock through those of us committed to constitutional democracy.Andrew Holness' six-day-old victory, with majority support among his party delegates, was blotted out by the unceremonious removal from the Senate of former Holness-appointed senators Williams and Tufton, with the use of those 22-month-old letters, now dated in November 2013.
The opposition leader was prepared to use these freshly dated old instruments to carry out his politically motivated constitutional assassinations. Speaking from his political grave, Williams, on a November 15 evening radio programme, stated that four days into Holness' victory over Shaw, he was of the opinion that he had the confidence of the newly re-elected leader of the Opposition. It seems that trust was misplaced.
The Constitution of Jamaica empowers both prime minister and leader of the Opposition to appoint senators to the Upper House. These appointed - rather than elected - lawmakers do not face the electorate. Consequently, the Senate can be viewed as an exception to the principle of 'government by the people'.
The power to appoint and remove its members is, therefore, to be closely guarded by civil society. This is what defines, in my humble opinion, the revelation of Williams about undated letters (the signing of which was an obvious precondition for appointment to the Senate) in the hands of the leader of the Opposition, as a constitutional crisis of no mean proportion.
undermining democracy
Where an individual holding a constitutional office of such high importance as leader of the Opposition seeks to undermine that very Constitution by circumventing the conditions under which a lawmaker can be removed from office, isn't he or she not guilty of undermining democracy itself?
Consider a prime minister being in possession of undated letters of resignation from all his appointed senators. And further, consider that he wishes to pass laws undermining the system of democracy we now enjoy. He could easily remove right-minded senators who side with the people, and, thereafter, replace them with his lackeys who are prepared to sacrifice our democracy.
The leader of the Opposition is a virtual prime minister-in-waiting. His conduct in Opposition informs his conduct as prime minister. This is what dangerously defines his conduct as being unconstitutional - having no regard for the letter and spirit of our 51-year-old democracy.
Summary dismissal in employment law is permissible only where the worker has breached a fundamental term of his contract. Those who hold the high office of lawmakers on our behalf are entitled to due process and security of tenure unless and until they repudiate the trust we repose in them, by some act or omission.
I cannot see how those who Holness will face, to seek election as leader in the future, will be able to repose confidence in a leader whose briefcase may be full of undated resignation letters extracted from the elected and unelected representatives of the Jamaican people. We cannot be led by those who are prepared to invent schemes to avoid the clear provisions of our Constitution.
In closing, I leave Mr Holness with the caution expressed by Patrick Henry, a prominent figure in the American Revolution, when he said, "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument to restrain the government lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
Bert Samuels is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and bert.samuels@gmail.com.
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Published: Monday | November 18, 2013 5 Comments
Christopher Tufton (right) and Opposition Leader Andrew Holness are no longer seeing eye to eye. - FILE
Bert Samuels, GUEST COLUMNIST
1 2 >
Bert Samuels, GUEST COLUMNIST
The revelation by Senator Arthur Williams that at least seven opposition senators - when being considered for appointment to our Upper House of Parliament - were required to sign undated letters of resignation has sent shock through those of us committed to constitutional democracy.Andrew Holness' six-day-old victory, with majority support among his party delegates, was blotted out by the unceremonious removal from the Senate of former Holness-appointed senators Williams and Tufton, with the use of those 22-month-old letters, now dated in November 2013.
The opposition leader was prepared to use these freshly dated old instruments to carry out his politically motivated constitutional assassinations. Speaking from his political grave, Williams, on a November 15 evening radio programme, stated that four days into Holness' victory over Shaw, he was of the opinion that he had the confidence of the newly re-elected leader of the Opposition. It seems that trust was misplaced.
The Constitution of Jamaica empowers both prime minister and leader of the Opposition to appoint senators to the Upper House. These appointed - rather than elected - lawmakers do not face the electorate. Consequently, the Senate can be viewed as an exception to the principle of 'government by the people'.
The power to appoint and remove its members is, therefore, to be closely guarded by civil society. This is what defines, in my humble opinion, the revelation of Williams about undated letters (the signing of which was an obvious precondition for appointment to the Senate) in the hands of the leader of the Opposition, as a constitutional crisis of no mean proportion.
undermining democracy
Where an individual holding a constitutional office of such high importance as leader of the Opposition seeks to undermine that very Constitution by circumventing the conditions under which a lawmaker can be removed from office, isn't he or she not guilty of undermining democracy itself?
Consider a prime minister being in possession of undated letters of resignation from all his appointed senators. And further, consider that he wishes to pass laws undermining the system of democracy we now enjoy. He could easily remove right-minded senators who side with the people, and, thereafter, replace them with his lackeys who are prepared to sacrifice our democracy.
The leader of the Opposition is a virtual prime minister-in-waiting. His conduct in Opposition informs his conduct as prime minister. This is what dangerously defines his conduct as being unconstitutional - having no regard for the letter and spirit of our 51-year-old democracy.
Summary dismissal in employment law is permissible only where the worker has breached a fundamental term of his contract. Those who hold the high office of lawmakers on our behalf are entitled to due process and security of tenure unless and until they repudiate the trust we repose in them, by some act or omission.
I cannot see how those who Holness will face, to seek election as leader in the future, will be able to repose confidence in a leader whose briefcase may be full of undated resignation letters extracted from the elected and unelected representatives of the Jamaican people. We cannot be led by those who are prepared to invent schemes to avoid the clear provisions of our Constitution.
In closing, I leave Mr Holness with the caution expressed by Patrick Henry, a prominent figure in the American Revolution, when he said, "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument to restrain the government lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
Bert Samuels is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and bert.samuels@gmail.com.
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