Hail to the Chief

This week the Jamaican Tory pays special tribute to a noble man who in his life embodied most of the values values that the Jamaican Tory esteems as honourable, upright and patriotic this person is none other than the Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante affectionately called “Chief”, Jamaica’s first Prime Minister and National Hero often credited as the father of modern Jamaican conservatism, Sir Alexander would have celebrated his 129^th birthday today had he been alive.

                                         
He was born as William Alexander Clarke in Hanover  on February 24, 1884,  to a mixed raced couple he spent his early years growing up in rural Jamaica before going off to explore Latin America as a young man it was there that he befriended a Cuban sea Captain who had such a great impact on him that he changed his surname by Deed Poll to Bustamante, he also began making use of his second name of Alexander rather than his first given name of William.  In 1932 he returned to Jamaica and began to take an interest in political matters by writing to the Daily Gleaner and also got involved in the Trade Union Movement by starting out as General Secretary of the Jamaica Workers Union, he later went to establish his own Bustamante Industrial Trade Union. As every schoolchild in Jamaica ought to know, modern politics in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean developed from this alliance between unions and political parties. Bustamante was for a short while placed in prison by the then colonial government but did not stay long thanks to the efforts of his influential cousin and political rival Norman Manley who was credited as the best Jamaican lawyer of his time. Bustamante upon coming out  joined Manley’s  People’s National Party (PNP) but later withdrew his membership as he was opposed to the PNP’s radical views which were inched towards establishing  socialism in Jamaica, he founded the Jamaica Labour Party in 1943 as conservative movement to counteract the PNP’s proposed revolution. Even though both Manley and Bustamante wanted Jamaica to be free of crown colony rule, the conservative JLP wanted Jamaica to have full Dominion status within the British Commonwealth  similar to Canada and New Zealand, Bustamante though anti-colonial was fiercely loyal to the Crown and was once quoted as shouting in one of his political rallies “Long Live the King but Denham  must go” to which Governor Denham traitorously responded “There is only one king in King’s House” he was of course referring not to King George VI  but rather to himself by falsely claiming to be King of the island.

              

In 1944 Jamaica had it’s first general elections under Universal Adult suffrage which was won by the JLP but he still did not become Chief Minister until 1953 even though he was leader of the majority as the Governor still remained as head of the executive until that time, Chief was however elected chairman of the KSAC and Mayor of Kingston in 1947. In 1955 his luck changed as he lost the elections to the PNP and became leader of the opposition but felt compensated  after  being made a Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty  Queen Elizabeth II  later that same year .

 

 By the mid-1950s the new buzzword was federation, this idea proposed that all the colonies within the British West Indies should unite under a single banner and gain their independence from British rule under one flag, this idea was initially supported by both Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom as well the local political elite including the Chief, interestingly neither  Sir Alex nor Manley contested seats in the Federal Parliament instead choosing to focus more on Provincial politics even though they were both  recognized as leaders of their respective parties, Bustamante for the right and Manley for the left . Even though I’m a huge fan of the Chief I must say that choosing to withdraw his support from the federation later on was a mistake yet that was precisely what he did, with pressure mounting from all sides Premier Manley had no choice but to call a referendum on the matter, the resulting was a resounding NO for federation and YES for independence. Next came the writing of Jamaica’s constitution this was done be a team of statesmen and legal experts on both sides of the political divide, the bi partisan committee took weeks to decide on what form of government we should have and even though not everyone on the committee approved both Bustamante and Manley were fiercely adamant that Jamaica was to be a constitutional monarchy based on the rules of British styled parliamentary democracy, there was talk that some wanted Jamaica to be either a US styled Presidential republic or an Parliamentary Republic based on the Irish model, the two political giants of the time utterly rejected this idea, a very wise choice as far as I’m concerned  for that I’ll be eternally grateful , contrary to erroneous propaganda put out by republicans there is no evidence to suggest that Bustamante nor Manley wanted a republic in fact the very constitution that we have now is proof enough that they were both loyal monarchist, their struggle was against colonialism not the monarchy.
                          

Following the writing  of the constitution another general election was held to see who would form the first government of the Dominion of Jamaica, the JLP won and Bustamante was appointed  Premier which would be automatically transformed into Prime Minister on August 6, 1962, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire and  appointed as the first West Indian member of  Her Majesty’s Privy Council, a month later he married his former private secretary and longtime mistress Miss Gladys Longbridge.  Jamaica prospered under the Chief’s tenure as he stuck true to the principles of good old fashioned Toryism as a model for social and economic development, he has also careful not to have any dealings with the radical communist regimes of his day by proudly proclaiming that “Jamaica is with the West”, he was respected by many internationally and held audiences with great like-minded men such as Sir Winston Churchill and Emperor Haile Selassie I.
                          

The Chief received many accolades and awards over his lifetime some of them already mentioned  but none was in comparison to the Order of National Hero that was awarded to both himself and Norman Manley for their great contribution to the founding of the modern Jamaica, the Order of National Hero is the highest and most prestigious  award  that Jamaica could  give to one of its loyal subjects . Sir Alexander retired from active politics in 1967 and spent 10 long years enjoying the fruits of his labour before dying at the ripe old age of 93 on August 6, 1977 exactly fifteen years after he first became Prime Minister of our fair island dominion.

Economics for Dummies: Tax More, Spend More, Borrow More

This week I intend to write on something that has been in the news since last week, this concerns the new tax package which the government has again unleashed on the people of this country and needless to say the government has failed miserably  with a capital F. In this latest development in the saga our ever increasing downward spiral, taxes were hiked on P.A.Y.E workers , ports of entry, stamp duties  as well as a whole new set of increases to the General Consumption Tax (GCT) and Special Consumption Tax (SCT), all this against the backdrop of the Jamaican Dollar (JMD) currently standing at $96.07 to United States $1.00, inflation in this country is at the worst it has ever been, commodity prices are sky high while consumer confidence extremely low, the government could not have done this at a worst possible time.

                           

 As one would expect, the people of Jamaica are quite displeased with the government, everyone including Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, various private sector groups as well as political pundits and  financial analyst are taking the government to task over its handling of the situation and rightly so,The President of the Private Sector Organization (PSOJ) expressed  his  horror that the government decided to proceed as it saw fit without consulting any of the relevant stakeholders, while the Opposition for their part have called the taxes illegal since in essence what the government is really doing violates the principle of “no double taxation” as the government is effectively levying taxes on retailers, consumers and also manufacturers (in some cases) for the same products.

                            

Of course I cannot talk about the latest tax package without mentioning the most stinging point which has to do with the National Housing Trust, let me start by saying that my heart really goes out to everyone who has been adversely affected by this act of cruelty and tyranny on that part of our elected leaders,  This administration has very little conscience dipping their fingers into taxpayers hard earned savings at the NHT, some persons  had spent most of their adult working lives making contributions to the NHT and still they  have not been able take out a mortgage on a house of their desire, now with the government stealing their hard earned savings the dreams of many ordinary working class Jamaicans may never become a reality all because the government wasn't prudent enough to not let the national debt reach this enormous stage in the first place.

                    

Some may argue in defence of the government by claiming that their hands are tied and that these measures are forced through by the  International Monetary Fund rather than by the government, this while true  is in itself a source of contention as it is clear that the GoJ under  duress from the IMF have seen it fit to impose these measures without even first tabling them in the House of Representatives a clear violation of the constitution which says that all money bills shall be introduced in the House, the actions of the government are clearly unconstitutional as they violate the principle of no taxation without representation,  it  also violates the principle of parliamentary supremacy which is a key ingredient in our Westminster system of 

government.

                        

 The Government has shown that fiscal prudence is certainly not it’s strong suit as all these measures put forward only serve one purpose only, borrowing money from the IMF to repay its debts, the trouble with that is that sooner or later they will have to borrow from somebody else to repay the IMF and so on and so forth, the cycle will be a never ending one.  These people never learn; borrowing to pay debt is nonsense, robbing Peter to pay Paul will only work for a while but after that who are you going to rob in order to pay Peter?  The best way to get out of debt is by working to pay it off, being fiscally conservative is the best way to go, the government  is encouraging the rest of the country to exercise discipline and tighten their belts while they themselves continue to live in luxury  if that is not hypocrisy then I don't know what is,   what they really should do is take their own advice and do the same.  

The Real Enemy of the state?

I  must weigh in on an issue that has been making the news whereby Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller was heard on public media referring to opposition leader Andrew Holness as the “enemy of the State” , If I didn't know before that our Prime Minister was completely daft of all reason I certainly know now, it’s not the first time that sister P has been known to place her foot in her mouth with her ridiculous politically motivated comments but my God this one definitely takes the cake, even I thought she had better sense, they’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

                            

Needless to say several members and supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party were incensed and rightly so, the Prime Minister’s comments were extremely repugnant and if interpreted the wrong way could be construed to mean an accusation of treason against the opposition leader that would have been cause for concern, as such the JLP demanded that she withdraw the comments immediately and apologize (Holness himself has already said that he doesn't even think the PM is worth replying to as the comments are pure ludicrous), but the Prime Minister is standing her ground insisting that she did nothing wrong.

                                       

The statement made by the leader of the People’s National Party and her subsequent response to mounting calls for a withdrawal/apology is  characteristic of a true autocrat, behaving as though she is infallible or that no one has the right to criticize her  and to make matters worse this incident is  not even  the first time that Mrs. Simpson Miller has shown that she is intolerant of criticism, well here's a news flash for you Madam PM we are a democracy NOT a banana republic (or any kind of republic as a matter of fact) , the opposition leader has a constitutional right and duty to speak out against the government when the need arises, how dare you seek to take that right away, are you trying to subvert the constitution of Jamaica or something?

                      

Truth be told it is the PM and not her opposition counterpart that can be seen as the real enemy of the state, enemy of both the Crown and the People, ever since her party was returned to power 13 months ago this country has been sliding down the brink of disaster, nothing is as it should be, unemployment is on the rise, the same can be said for inflation and taxes  while at the same time wages continue to dip or be frozen, the NIR is at an all time low, while there are it is highly speculated that free health care and free tuition up to the secondary level are to be cut all this is against the backdrop of the PM and her comrade co-conspirators continuing  to live in luxury, I mean seriously, spending  $60 million of  taxpayers’ money to buy SUVs in a period of  austerity?  who does that? . The PNP has demonstrated time and time again that they have no real love for the people of this country regardless of how much they give lip service to the contrary, so tell me who the real enemy of the state is.

                               

Of course nothing demonstrates more clearly the true identity of the enemy of that state than the Prime Minister’s proposal for constitutional reform, Under section 68 of the Jamaica Order in Council executive authority is vested in the Crown and as such the sovereign is the personification of the state itself it therefore stands to reason that anyone who sets them-self up against this legitimate authority by proposing the removal of the monarch is by virtue of such an enemy of the sovereign which would make him/her an enemy of the (personification of the) state.

The Prime Minister has demonstrated that she has little regard for the constitution on so many occasions quite frankly I’m shocked that the Governor-General has not pulled a John Kerr on her as yet. But to be frank she really needs to take a breather and deal with the issues that are affecting this country in a calm and tactical manner befitting of a true leader, if she’s being criticized by the opposition, she would do well to listen and take heed  and not jump to conclusions making idiotic comments which could only serve to land her in trouble and sway public opinion against her 

On the matter of abdication

Early last week  Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced to the citizens of her Kingdom and the entire world that she intends to abdicate on Queen’s Day in April  and hand over the crown to her son Willem Alexander, Crown Prince of the Netherlands and Prince of Orange making him the first Dutch King in 123 years, the last time the Netherlands has had a male monarch was in 1890 when King Willem III died, since then the Dutch people have had a succession of Queens, first Wilhelmina, then Juliana and finally Beatrix all of whom abdicated to facilitate the next generation after reigning for a long period.

                        

 Within the Commonwealth Realms there have been speculations as to whether or not our Queen  Elizabeth II will follow the example of her Dutch counterpart and abdicate in favour of her son Charles, Prince of Wales after all she has been on the throne for twice as long as  Queen Beatrix and the Prince of Wales has been in waiting much longer the Prince of Orange, in fact he is the longest waiting heir apparent of all time beating the record previously set by his great-great-grandfather King Edward VII who ascended the throne at 59 years old. Despite these facts the Queen shows no sign of wanting to slow down despite celebrating her Diamond Jubilee last year, in fact this week the Queen will mark 61 years on the throne inching closer yet to the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria and given the fact that longevity of life is a common trait among her female ancestors there are speculations by many that she will in fact eventually become the longest reigning sovereign of all time in the history of the Commonwealth therefore abdication is certainly not in the cards at this time.

                                      

It is no secret that Queen Elizabeth views her job as a lifetime commitment and takes her coronation oath very seriously as it was a vow solemnly made to both God and to her loyal subjects , even before her ascension she has committed her life to duty and service, who can forget those now famous words she spoke on her 21^st birthday in South Africa so long ago “my whole life whether it be long or short, shall be dedicated to your service and  to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong”  that sentence alone should have been enough to dispel any notions whatsoever that the Queen would abdicate her responsibilities but some continue to speculate on this matter.

                          

To be frank Dutch tradition is totally different from those used in the British Commonwealth , whereas in the Netherlands the monarch is actually expected to abdicate after reigning for a long period of time though this period is totally at the Monarch’s  discretion. In the Commonwealth abdication has a very negative connotation, who could forget the Abdication crisis of 1936 involving the Queen’s uncle King Edward VIII, who gave up his birthright to marry an American divorcee we surely don't want a repeat of that incident, here in the Commonwealth we expect our monarch to reign for life, if they get too old or too ill to carry out their daily duties then a regent may be appointed as was done when King George III was declared mentally unstable in 1811, his heir (who later succeeded him as King George IV) became regent, still final authority still rest with the Sovereign as long has he or she is alive. 

                                      

One must also remember that the Dutch concept of monarchy is totally different from ours. In the Netherlands and some our European countries the monarch is now regarded as a citizen (though this was not always so) and as such the monarch goes through an investiture or enthronement ceremony rather than a coronation. In the Commonwealth Realms this is no so, our Head of State is not a citizen but she is sovereign and we are her subjects ,it would have been a very sticky situation for her to be citizen of 16 sovereign countries, inherently she could only be a citizen of one and a foreigner to the rest. This is why she is anointed and crowned as our sovereign lady in her coronation ceremony, she is the living embodiment of the state and all its authority, sovereignty does not rest with the people, it rest with her and as such she cannot afford to give up the throne whenever she likes but instead is bound to stay true to her coronation oath. King Edward VIII had a lucky escape since he abdicated before he got a chance to be anointed or to take the coronation oath (regardless he was still king), or else his position would have been a much more precarious one, had he been crowned he maybe would have felt more obliged to stay infuriating his ministers even more and could possibly lead to another king being involuntarily deposed by parliament like what happened to King James II in 1688, that would have been an even more unpleasant scenario had it happened that way.

                                      

Queen Beatrix is possibly the most well loved and loved respected figure throughout her Kingdom but now she’s calling it quits , but Queen Elizabeth II shows no sign of wanting to follow suit, she intends to reign till her last breath which really and truly is the monarchist way of doing things, I personally hope to see her stick around at least long enough to beat the previous record set by Queen Victoria and become the longest reigning Queen ever in Commonwealth history.