By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter 
Munroe and Orane
WHETHER OR not we like the way they have voted on critical issues brought before them, there is no denying that the two Independent members of the Senate have made their mark.
The two men, Professor Trevor Munroe and Douglas Orane were guinea pigs of sorts in this experiment of drawing talent from civil society to complement the partisan appointments in the 21-member Upper House.
There were Independent members of the Senate between 1983 and 1989. However, those eight members were appointed by then Prime Minister Edward Seaga because the People's National Party (PNP) refused to contest the 1983 general elections and so gave up its right to appoint Senators.
But when Prime Minister P.J. Patterson appointed Professor Munroe and Mr. Orane in 1997 after his party's landslide victory over the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), it was the first time that a government would have given up a portion of its 13 allotted appointments to make way for Independents.
In most quarters, the gesture was seen as lofty. But there were critics. Those critics felt that these Independents were mere government appointees, brought to the Senate in such a manner as to make the Prime Minister look magnanimous - a cynical ploy!
Last Friday's decision by the Independent Senators to vote with Government Senators to change the Oath of Allegiance and the Judicial Oath, is already being used by some critics to justify their scepticism.
But to suggest that the vote showed the Independents' loyalties to the governing party is ridiculous. Why is it hard to believe that they voted, as they truly felt? Is it because their vote was so crucial to the passage of the amendments why some people are so willing to think the worse? If they had voted against the Government merely to demonstrate to the public that they can be a 'fly in the ointment', would they have done their duty to the Jamaican people?
The fact is that both men have, on many occasions, voted against Government positions. There have also been times when they have lashed Government policies and programmes. One imagines that those occasions do not count because they did not fall in the election period. The perils of politics!
The service of both men to the Senate over the last five years has been exemplary. They have made mighty contributions to debates and decisions in the Senate, which have perhaps surpassed the most generous expectations.
It is because of Professor Munroe, who has been the more active of the two Senators, why there was the establishment of a national commission on ganja. He brought the resolution to the Senate which was later approved. The report of the commission, which has recommended the decriminalisation of the herb for personal and private use, is now before a parliamentary committee.
More recently, the Senate approved a resolution brought by the Professor to set up a broad-based commission to study the issue of state financing for political parties. The event went unnoticed but it will be a critical issue for any party, which forms the next administration after the election.
Senator Orane is not as loquacious as some other members of the Upper House, but his contributions are always solid and to the point. Maybe that is why he is not a politician. He also did outstanding work in chairing a Senate committee, which fleshed out critical provisions of the Companies Act.
With both sides, more or less, agreed that the experiment has worked, there should be no time wasted after the next election in moving ahead with the Senate reforms proposed by the Constitution Commission in the early 1990s. Or, at least, a variation of them.
The Commission recommended that the Senate should be expanded from its current 21 members to 35 members. The Government would appoint 15 persons, the Opposition 10 and the other 10 drawn from civil society. In other words, 10 people would be Independent Senators.
Against the background of an explosion in civil society groups over the last decade, this proposal recommends it with urgency. Having a greater mix of people in the Senate, representing various sector groups, would further add to the quality of debate that now takes place in the Chamber and with that, improve the quality of governance offered to the Jamaican people.
