THE CURRENT campaign involving four contenders for the presidency of the People's National Party (PNP) is increasing in intensity, so much so that some misgivings have arisen that the contenders may be neglecting their official duties.
Indeed, we have published letters from readers who seem to regard the campaign to win the favour of some 4,000 delegates of the PNP as one to elect a new Prime Minister. This is understandable since the event is occasioned by the impending retirement of Mr. Patterson as Prime Minister, head of the Government.
A letter writer last Wednesday went so far as to suggest that it seemed like a constitutional aberration for 4,000 unknown party delegates to choose our Prime Minister. Similar sentiments are expressed in today's Letter of the Day. We think the administration should make it clear to the public precisely what is involved in the process of electing a new Prime Minister.
Simply put, the governing party is in the process of electing a new president in keeping with its own constitutional structure. When that is accomplished, a parliamentary exercise will take place in accordance with the Jamaica Constitution, Section 70(1), which states: "Whenever the Governor-General has occasion to appoint a Prime Minister he, acting in his discretion, shall appoint the member of the House of Representatives who in his judgement is best able to command the confidence of a majority of the members of that House ..." Clearly the Governor-General must take the relevant advice from the membership in order to exercise his discretion.
It may be useful to compare the procedure following the death of Prime Minister Sir Donald Sangster in 1967. There was internal balloting among Jamaica Labour Party Members of Parliament involving three contenders, before the Governor-General appointed Mr. Hugh Shearer as Prime Minister to succeed Sir Donald.
In the present situation, the Prime Minister is retiring and his party has first to elect a new president before the constitutional process is invoked by the Governor-General. The selection of a new Leader of the Opposition was somewhat similar, but was not so prolonged perhaps because there were only two contenders before the Governor-General appointed Mr. Golding to replace Mr. Seaga. Besides, the parties have different internal structures.
The four PNP contenders obviously create a greater stir for a bigger prize. The closer the campaign gets to zero hour the more it takes on old habits of the hustings, like a fight between two parties rather than a tussle within a single party. This could threaten the cohesion needed to run the country. The grave challenges we face at this time require the full attention of a government not unduly distracted by transition to new leadership.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
