INNOVATIONS WHICH strengthen and enhance the democratic process should be encouraged and developed and not abandoned for the sake of politics. The naming of persons of political independence as Senators is a case in point. The first manifestation of this was in 1983 when the People's National Party boycotted the general election and the country became de facto a one- party state.
The then Prime Minister, Mr. Edward Seaga, appointed several persons of independent views to the Senate to fill the quota of eight Senators who would normally have been appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. There is a body of opinion that considers this the best Senate in the post-independence period judged by the level and vigour of debate.
After the general election of 1997 Prime Minister Patterson appointed Professor Trevor Munroe, an academic and trade unionist, and Mr. Douglas Orane, businessman and chairman of Grace, Kennedy and Co. Ltd., to be Independent Senators. Both were outstanding additions to the upper chamber and made very significant contributions to its deliberations.
We had dared to hope that with civil society becoming increasingly vocal on a range of national issues the Prime Minister would have encouraged this by continuing the innovation of appointing independent voices to the Senate. But last week Mr. Patterson dashed that hope with his announcement that he would not be appointing Independent Senators but persons who, while not necessarily members of his party, would be sympathetic to his administration. Since then Mr. Patterson has offered, and Professor Munroe has accepted, an appointment as a Government Senator. Given Professor Munroe's years of independent and critical thinking and his history of social activism, we would doubt that he could be relied on to toe the party line on all issues. Which makes the abandonment of what was a creative innovation so unnecessary.
Surely the government can have nothing to fear with its majority of five in Senate. Indeed, in consultation with the Opposition, it could even resort to "pairing". This is the system which enables a member who wishes to absent himself, to agree with a member from the opposite side of the chamber to absent himself at the same time, thus neutralising their votes in any division which might take place during their absence.
The appointment of Independent Senators is too important a feature of our democracy to be abandoned so casually.
