By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
ON MONDAY, August 5, 2002, two months, one week and four days before the October 16 general election, which was won by the People's National Party (PNP), I openly wished for a Parliament that was much closer in seat allocation.
With the PNP holding 48 of the 60 seats going into the election, many hoped that whoever would have emerged as victor, the apportioning of the seats would be more even. This, after the Opposition had on several occasions during the last three years, resorted to walking out of the House when things were not going its way. On those occasions, all of us called Jamaicans lost.
Hence, with weeks before the election, I hoped for a Parliament where whoever formed the Government, would not have more than 35 seats. With public opinion polls predicting that the results would have been close, I did say that a 32/28 split would be even more ideal.
As it stands, the split is 34/26, giving the Government an eight-seat majority, in what is the tightest Parliament since 1967. With such a result is the promise of a vibrant Parliament, one full of vigorous debates, where issues are properly ventilated before they are passed into law.
The Government still has a simple majority in the House but has lost the two-thirds majority it had enjoyed for the past three elections dating back to 1989. It will therefore need Opposition support on issues such as key amendments to the Constitution which are likely to dominate the early life of the new Parliament.
Debate should soon commence on the new Charter of Rights, which aims to expand the 'rights' Jamaicans have under the Constitution. This debate will give a clear indication as to how the Parliament will be conducted, whether each side will selfishly close ranks behind party lines over the most straightforward of issues, or whether they are likely to agree on key issues for the good of the country. Simply put, it will test both the maturity and sincerity of our elected representatives.
The Government would be advised to launch a serious public education campaign on the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which is vehemently opposed by the Opposition which has threatened to reverse the court when it forms the Government. It is in favour of retaining the United Kingdom-based Privy Council as the country's final court of appeal.
One is not certain how to read the threat from Opposition Leader Edward Seaga last Friday, to keep the Government on its toes in the new look Parliament. On the one hand a strong Opposition would have the effect of making the Government less arrogant. But, on the other hand, the Opposition's approach could make even the simplest of debates confrontational.
Having said that, we should be all happy that Mr. Seaga has promised the strongest Opposition in the country's history. "What it means is that we are not holding the blade any longer. We now hold a part of the handle along with the PNP and as such we can say that we will become the strongest Opposition facing a weak Government," he told a gathering of party supporters at a dinner at Pipers Resorts, Runaway Bay, St. Ann.
The JLP boss failed to state why the Government was weak and perhaps he should be reminded that despite the fact that the JLP gained 14 seats this time around, it is still in Opposition. In other words, the PNP managed to win an unprecedented fourth term, with a record third consecutive third term for Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, despite the litany of things that are supposedly wrong with the country.
Mr. Seaga, perhaps still with ambitions of being Prime Minister again, is now hoping that the Government will not last a full term. Incredible! Is that what he should be hoping for when he himself wants to be part of Government? He does not expect the PNP to survive five years, "not with the conditions that lie ahead," he said. Would the JLP be able to last a full term with similar conditions?
I had also made the point in August that a stronger Opposition was needed not only in terms of numbers but in terms of quality. As such the JLP would welcome back former Ministers, Edmund Bartlett, Dr. Ken Baugh and Pearnell Charles. Also back in the fold is Dr. Horace Chang who like the others served during the 1980s. Additionally, Rudyard Spencer and James Robertson who served as JLP Senators in the last Parliament have won seats and will join their colleagues in the Lower House.
Like the PNP, there are some bright young prospects for the JLP including Dr. St. Aubyn Bartlett who won in St. Andrew, and Clive Mullings, attorney-at-law, who won in St. James.
