Robert Buddan, Contributor
In its first 100 days in office, the Jamaica Labour Party and its leader, Mr. Bruce Golding, have managed to disrupt the Vale Royal Summit and destroy hope of constructive engagement with the parties because of divisive and tribalist remarks and campaign practices against the Opposition PNP; brought on a constitutional crisis that threatens the indepen-dence of powers that lies at the heart of our checks and balances by dismissing the Public Service Commission (PSC), by-passing due process and the rule of law on which our democracy stands; violated trust in government by reneging on a widely publicised pre-election promise to grant salary increases to the members of the Nurses Association of Jamaica, but intending to grant a 20-per-cent salary increase to MPs in the new year; corrupted the principle of free will and fair elections by telling voters in the lead-up to the local government elections that they would not be served if they did not vote for the party; failed to protect citizens from price-gouging practised under the guise of oil price increases; failed to protect citizens from rising crime and violence, which according to an earlier campaign was 'the first duty of the state'; concentrated greater power in the executive, such as certain responsibilities formerly under the Ministry of Finance and centralising parliamentary question time around answers for a range of portfolios on Mr. Golding, presumably because of the lack of experience or lack of confidence in his other ministers; and making appointments to public sector boards that have raised questions of conflicts of interest and concerns over special influence from major financial sponsors of the party.
The Government has already suffered the embarrassment of the resignation of the chairman of one public sector board - Jamaica Trade and Invest - and attracted calls for the resignation of the Minister of Finance for reneging on the promise to the Nurses Association of Jamaica, as well as a call from the Citizen's Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) for the resignation of two junior ministers. In addition, some members of the new government have already been taken to court over their right to be Members of Parliament. The leader of the Opposition has taken the new Prime Minister to court for breach of natural justice. Public commentators have begun to speak of dictatorship by the Government. In just 100 days the Government has recklessly managed to damage itself in so many ways, but with its two-seat majority it cannot afford resignations, court rulings or sanctions over undisciplined members who could jeopardise its bare majority. It has painted itself into a corner in just 100 days.
But it has done more than damage itself. It has wasted the hope held by some supporters of the PNP that Mr. Golding would make constructive engagement possible to address great and grave national problems and transcend political tribalism rather than reinforce it. It has undermined the rule of law by pre-empting the court's ruling for judicial appeal in the case of the dismissed members of the PSC. It has undermined the principle of consultation with the Leader of the Opposition by so doing. It has harmed the system of independence of powers by casting great public suspicion that it has interfered, on political grounds, with the decision of the PSC to appoint a new Solicitor General. The constitutional crisis involving the PSC alone has damaged our checks and balances, the reputation of the esteemed members of the PSC, and the rule of law by the courts. It has also brought into controversy the political and constitutional role of the Leader of the Opposition and the Governor-General.
KEY PRINCIPLES
The principles and institutions that have buttressed our political system were built up over thousands of days, especially since 1950. In 1950 when the Mills Report on Civil Service Reform was first considered in the House, Norman Manley enunciated two principles for Jamaica's emerging civil service - a civil service commission that would function free of political interference and a civil service that would serve the Government loyally. He explained that, "It is not desirable that, a political body (such as the Executive) should ever at any time have power to grant appointments to any senior post in the service because it involves the principle of political control of appointments."
In 1954, Jamaica's momentum towards self-government had accelerated. Leaders had begun to think about fashioning a new Jamaican state. A parliamentary committee was appointed to prepare a constitution for self-government. Norman Manley proposed, and the committee accepted that, an independent civil service commission appoint or control the appointment of the higher civil service. The committee agreed too that there should be an independent judicial service commission. Donald Sangster proposed and the committee agreed that the attorney general and the Minister of Justice should be members of the House so that they would be accountable to an elected body.
Manley explained the importance of all this as follows:
Let no one be so childish to imagine that the Governors did not interfere with the true operation of the law. In my own practice of law I have had the most astounding cases of interference with the course of the law, and I know of cases where Governors have interfered with attorneys general and the administration of their functions, and I can name it, so that those who exhorted us to heed high levels of purity in the old days did not hesitate when the occasion demanded to step down the ladder.
Governors abused power by interfering with the civil service. Manley insisted that ample persons of integrity existed in the Carib-bean capable of operating the civil service without such interference. The progressive Governor, Hugh Foot, agreed and pointed out that seven out of eight of Jamaica's permanent secretaries were West Indians, as were the chief justice, attorney general, solicitor general, commissioner of police, director of public works, and general manager of the railway.
Mr. Golding might believe he can act like the governors of old under the colonial constitutions of the past, but the Independence Constitution was crafted to prevent this. The principle of civil service independence was established by the Jamaican Parliament over 50 years ago, and subsequently by the Independence Constitution. A bi-partisan constitutional committee on self-government accepted the principle, and a bi-partisan committee of the House established the Constitution. Golding cannot suddenly get up and usurp a process in 100 days that was built up over 50 years by the founders of the political system, men and women collectively wiser and more experienced than he. The civil service has come a long way from being part of the Royal household when appointments were based on patronage leading to civil service inefficiency. It is over 150 years now since Britain first appointed civil service commissioners to regulate appointments based on merit after fair and open competition. We cannot throw this away in 100 days.
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm
