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The promise of good governance
Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Tuesday | August 7, 2007
Vernon Daley
I'm not yet through reading the manifesto of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). There is much meat in the 127-page document and I tend to chew slowly. However, from what I've seen, it is an outstanding attempt to find solutions to some of the pressing problems affecting this country. Only the most rabidly partisan among us would disagree.
The most impressive section of the manifesto, to my mind, is that dealing with governance. Bruce Golding and his team have obviously spent a great deal of time looking at ways of improving the workings of government and they have crafted ideas that are worthy of serious debate. Some of these ideas have been mentioned before but their inclusion in the manifesto invests them with a special significance.
Greater role in parliament
One of these is the proposal to have sessional and special select committees of Parliament chaired by a member of the Opposition. This is a simple and sensible idea that would ensure sharper scrutiny of governmental activities. We already have the model in place in the form of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which is chaired by an Opposition member. The scrutiny that the PAC brings to bear on government spending has much to do with the fact that it is chaired by someone from the other side.
This is one way of granting to the Opposition a greater role in Parliament. In fact, Mr. Golding's own prominence in the 1990s had much to do with the press coverage he received for his work as chairman of the PAC.
The party is also proposing that appointments to sensitive public offices such as Chief Justice, Public Defender and Director of Public Prosecutions be approved by a two-thirds majority in each House of Parliament to ensure general agreement on the officials. The proposal is undoubtedly better than what we have now, which sees people being installed in these offices in secrecy with no prior public discussions about their suitability.
Perhaps yielding to some public criticism, the JLP has toned down its proposal for a fixed election date to what it now calls a fixed election period. I'm not sure how this new proposal will work and hope to hear some clarification from the party's leadership. There are several other important proposals on governance including term limits for the Prime Minister and constitutional restraints on the number of Cabinet ministries.
What I find refreshing in these proposals, though, is that Mr. Golding and the JLP are committing themselves to reducing the governmental power and influence they would enjoy if they find themselves in office. This is a good thing.
Ready for debates
The JLP is right to put these governance issues at the very heart of their promises to the Jamaican people because many of the problems that burden this country are connected to the bad governance we've had over many years.
Last week, I read in this newspaper that the governing People's National Party (PNP)might not put out its manifesto until about Thursday, despite the fact that officials had promised it today, Tuesday. I hope The Gleaner was wrong.
We need to see what Portia Simpson Miller and her team are proposing for the country over the next five years, especially since the national leadership debates are now upon us. It seems unfair that the JLP's proposals should be under the microscope before its leaders go into the debates when the PNP is still holding its cards to its chest.
In fact, those organising the debates should have insisted that both manifestos be out at least a week before the event to ensure a fair playing field for the parties as well as adequate time for questioners and the public to study the proposals. It's now water under the bridge but it's something to think about for next time.
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