Sometime last year,
the government of Jamaica announced that would begin the process of becoming a
republic, removing the late Queen Elizabeth II and replace her with a president. Since that announcement was made, the passing
of the Queen and the accession of King Charles III has served to accelerate the
ambitions of the government to alter the constitution. In order to push this agenda forward, the
government has established the Constitutional Reform Committee as the body that
will guide the process. When originally formed, many persons were of the
opinion that the CRC will be looking at a complete overhaul of the
constitution. However, it should be clear to everyone by now that the CRC’s
only aim at the movement is the usurpation of the Crown, but little else will
change. I for one was not surprised that this is the angle that the government
is taking, given that this is exactly what Barbados did in 2021, the only difference
is that whereas they rushed it, we seem
to taking our time to mull over all the implications.
This state of affairs has caused ire among
some who want a complete overhaul of the constitution, those who make such an
argument tend to favour the US style presidential model. Some even go as far as
to make the argument that adopting such a model would make it more
“Jamaicanised”. This thinking however is plainly baseless as one cannot
reasonably argue that the form of government we have held since independence is
not really Jamaican but somehow adopting an American form of government is more
Jamaican. It is clearly a logical fallacy to even suggest such a thing, yet is
exactly what its proponents seem to believe, albeit without evidence. And in
addition, contrary to the propaganda from the American media, the presidential
system is actually inferior to the Westminster parliametary model and comes with
a host of problems such as an inherently divisive head of state who can never
be a unifying figure, to having a cabinet that is not accountable to parliament
and don’t even get started on the gridlock that takes place when the executive
and legislature are at loggerheads and can’t get anything done. Let us not be
fooled by the rhetoric, there is a reason why most developed countries opt for
parliamentary systems as seen in cases like Canada, Japan, Australia, and the
Nordic Countries whereas the United States is the only first world country that
uses the presidential model, because every other country that uses this system
has been less successful, simply put USA is the exception, not the rule.
With that being said however, supporters of a
Jamaican republic are of the opinion that removing The King and replacing him
with a president (be he elected or appointed) will improve governance as
according to them, the current system is not working. The truth is that while
they are correct in identifying that a problem exists, their diagnosis and
proposed solution is incorrect. If anything is holding our political system
back, it is not the monarchy, but rather the bi-partisan duopoly. For the last 61 years, the head of the House
of Windsor has held the Sovereign’s position in this country, however the
business of government has been done in the King’s (formerly Queen’s) name by
the Jamaica Labour Party and the Peoples National Party, it is they who have
alternated in holding the reigns of state power and replacing the monarch with a
president will not change this.
The truth is that it
will be of little consequence if we change to any republic be it presidential
or parliamentary, if the ruling class remains where they are unchecked and
unchallenged. If Jamaica wants to improve its
governance, a republic is not the answer, instead the real solution lies
in having a multi-party system that will give the JLP and PNP a run for their
money. A multi-party democracy is one that comes with several benefits
including:
Having a wider base of opinions instead of
merely two camps (which are sometimes indistinguishable);
It will be much harder
for any single party to have an outright majority in parliament, which would
necessitate the formation of coalitions;
Coalitions when formed
will have to work together for the national good instead of partisan interest;
It will create a
dramatic shift in our political culture, where persons will be less loyal to
political parties and thus break the stranglehold of some MPs who are far too
comfortable in their seats while have little impact in their constituencies.
I am not ignorant of
the fact that third parties have been attempted before with not much success,
but that is no reason to give up on the idea especially if it can help enhance
democracy as is seen in many other countries that have multi-party parliamentary
systems such as Germany, New Zealand and Ireland. The truth is that having such a system would keep
the government in check since in order for coalitions to remain intact, all
parties in a ruling coalition would need to cooperate for the best interest of
the nation. Others might argue that the best to keep the government in line is
the development of an Office of President with broad powers to safeguard the
constitution. But that begs the question, what need is there to develop
presidential powers for such a purpose when it is just as possible to have the
royal prerogatives of the Governor-General serve the same purpose? that is
unless of course they want to admit that they deliberately made Crown very weak
in order to replace it with a presidency and if so, that would point to them
sabotaging our constitution from the start.
And speaking of
sabotage, is it also possible that the JLP and PNP are also fully aware that
this suggestion might indeed be answer that we are looking for but instead have
chosen to point fingers at the monarchy in order to distract from their own
failings over the last 61 years? Let’s face it, who has the most to gain from
scapegoating the late Queen and the current King? Who has the most to gain from
the maintenance of the current duopoly? Who has the most to lose if Jamaica
should adopt a more multi-partisan approach to politics? The answer to these questions is clearly the JLP
and the PNP. And as for becoming a republic, who has the most to lose if that
should happen? Is it the royal family? Not at all, they will still have
Britain, Canada, Australia etc. so they will lose very little, we on the other
hand will be the ultimate losers on that score as all we would really be doing
is strengthen the duopoly’s hold on all the institutions of this country, this
is what we should oppose with all our might. The government as it stands is
dangerously overreaching and the last thing we should do is encourage it.
It is on this basis
that I posit that the change that Jamaica truly needs is exactly the one that
the ruling class does not wish to give us. At the end of the day what should
matter most is not who has what government title but rather how the country is
governed and the contrary to the propaganda shoved down our throats, a
president is not what this country needs as that would be cosmetic, but what we
need is to have a more participatory
democracy where multiple parties and multiple viewpoints are heard, this is
what will truly alter the state of politics in the country so we can finally
fulfil our national destiny before God and all mankind in playing our part of advancing
the whole human race.
