Robert Buddan LAST WEEK, Bruce Golding gave his first interview since becoming chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). He expressed positions that reveal his new thinking on constitutional reform. (See The Daily Gleaner, November 26, 2003).
Mr. Golding said that there is no consensus in the party on what structure of government the party favours. There is no consensus, in other words, in favour of separation of powers.
One might sympathise with Mr. Golding since the gap between Mr. Seaga's model and Mr. Golding's original model was very wide. That model was in fact closer to that of the People's National Party (PNP).
Although Mr. Golding did not refer to specifics, I imagine that there would also be no consensus in the JLP on term limits, fixed dates for elections, and transparent campaign finance rules.
Two things are not yet clear. One is whether Mr. Golding's new thinking is a tactical concession made for the convenience of JLP politics.
The second is whether, in the end, Mr. Golding will accept a watered-down model, hardly different from the model that Mr. Seaga wants, and really make any difference to constitutional reform.
TERM LIMITS
Term limits is not a theoretical issue. Few parties show the need for term limits like the JLP does.
Mr. Golding believed in term limits in the National Democratic Movement (NDM) but now says he will wait for Mr. Seaga to resign whether this is before the next elections or after. This sounds like a blank cheque for unlimited tenure checked only by incapacity or death. Mr. Seaga we all know has no intention of resigning. Everything indicates that.
As a principle, term limits apply to both leadership of government and of party. You cannot believe in one without believing in the other. Mr. Seaga has already led the JLP for 30 years and has lost five general elections. These should be enough reason.
But age and tenure apart, Mr. Golding had said that Mr. Seaga was not fit to be prime minister considering his financial situation. Since that time, the Privy Council has confirmed that situation.
Still, Mr. Golding asks for no condition for Mr. Seaga to depart. Mr. Golding says he believes Mr. Seaga is clear about his time-table for departure. But Mr. Seaga had said he did not walk around with a time-table for departure in his pocket. Mr. Seaga has not bothered to give the matter much thought.
All we know is that Mr. Seaga has asked for more time to complete a constitutional agenda. But there is no definite end point here. Negotiations over that agenda could take a long time if Mr. Seaga chooses to pursue the on and off bipartisanship that he is noted for.
There is no rule, convention or hint of any time limit for Mr. Seaga. The status quo remains and there seems to be no compromise position offered.
If Mr. Golding has given up the idea of term limits, he should say so. But he will have to explain this to G2K and his other strident supporters. There is support for term limits in the younger generation of the PNP as well.
If Mr. Golding is capitulating to the aged in the JLP, this will not go down well with the younger generation across the parties.
It seems as if what many in the JLP want is for Mr. Seaga to accept an honourable way out. It is not about whether Mr. Seaga should have more time. It is that he should not. Mr. Golding either misunderstands this or does not believe it is the right time to raise this.
SEPARATION OF POWERS
Mr. Golding no longer believes that a separation of powers model is the only good model for Jamaica. He will accept a modified Westminster model (which Mr. Seaga wants) with more checks on executive power, something that Mr. Seaga will gladly accept in exchange for timeless rule.
Mr. Golding should recognise the inconsistency here. If there is no term limit, then one important check on executive power is already conceded. Besides, I do not doubt that Mr. Seaga could find his way around checks on executive power just as he has done to maintain his hold on party power.
Mr. Golding does keep open the option of a separation of powers model (with adjustments to accommodate some Westminster features). But what is important now, he says, is that there be checks on the executive since the same party might form the majority in both executive and legislature.
The United States separation of powers model shows that this can lead to executive excesses. But this is all the more reason for term limits to check the power that goes with open-ended rule.
Term limits were imposed in the U.S. in 1951 after Franklin Roosevelt won four elections and died in office. The Democratic Party controlled the executive and legislature during the terms of Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Carter and this diluted the effectiveness of separate executive and legislative powers.
But it actually made executive term limits more valuable because of the overwhelming power of the party in government and because there were (and are) no term limits on members of the legislature. (Incidentally, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan disagree with the present rule for term limits).
Mr. Golding has offered the idea of a separation of powers model with Westminster features. Will Mr. Seaga accept this?
Separation of powers means one thing only. It means that neither the executive nor the legislature can constitutionally dissolve the other. Like Delroy Chuck, I wonder if Mr. Golding even understands this.
With this, the problem of gridlock still has to be faced and this is a feature Mr. Seaga will not accept. By offering a Westminster model with stronger checks on the executive, it seems to me that Mr. Golding has signalled that he is willing to forego the separation of powers model and has opened the door for Mr. Seaga's model.
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
If Mr. Golding's model has now dissolved into Mr. Seaga's model then we are back to the competing models considered by the Constitutional Commission in its report to Parliament in 1995 in the days before the NDM. The JLP's preference then was for a modified Westminster system without fixed election dates.
Fixed elections would violate the principle that the executive and legislature should have the power to dissolve each other to make elections possible at anytime. The questions of term limits and campaign finance remain open, however, since they are not subject to any form of parliamentarism or presidentialism.
Mr. Seaga has appealed for more time to carry through his constitutional agenda. This really means that he wants to steal the thunder from Mr. Golding as the constitutional reformer in the party, find a way to appease those financial contributors he has frightened, and draw the process out with stop and go bipartisanship to lengthen his stay.
After all, Mr. Seaga has resisted constitutional reform for years fearing a model by which the president is directly elected by the nation since he is more secure in his narrow constituency than in the wider nation.
Mr. Seaga wants to substitute comprehensive reform for piecemeal reform by taking specific issues like campaign finance and impeachment out of the package for separate treatment.
Mr. Golding must be careful that he is not outmanoeuvered and give too much away. Mr. Golding is walking softly. He must be mindful that one can walk so softly that his enemies do not hear him coming and his followers do not hear him leading.
Mr. Golding needs his own agenda for constitutional reform. He seems to have given away the one he had. He can make a contribution by supporting comprehensive constitutional reform with republicanism. He could consider term limits and campaign finance reform for all large contributions, tainted or otherwise.
He should accept enshrining the Election Commission in a new constitution having powers to investigate election funding. He should accept a directly elected presidency since this is the ultimate check on the executive. Mr. Golding must be careful not to get caught in the trap of "election first" being set by Mr. Seaga and Audley Shaw, which is their strategy to win everything and shut him out. He must persist with reform first.
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, Mona, UWI.
E-mail: Robert Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm
