The Bedrock Of Achieving First-world-status Is The Rule Of Law…

As general elections draw nearer with each passing day passions are inflamed, issues rise to the fore which have serious consequences for our Country.
One of the talking points is which party will lead Jamaica to first world status.
Sadly for many in both parties they believe that what constitutes First-world-status is physical infrastructure.

First world sta­tus starts with estab­lish­ing laws, improv­ing the deliv­ery of jus­tice to the pop­u­la­tion ‚the deliv­ery of edu­ca­tion and health care are impor­tant as well. Invariably, putting these prin­ci­ples in place cre­ates the com­po­nents which puts in place the phys­i­cal long term struc­tures we crave.
Each chal­lenge Jamaica faces is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for the island to be bet­ter. Of course this depends on whether the lead­ers have the vision nec­es­sary to cre­ate a bet­ter coun­try from these challenges.

It is impor­tant that if Jamaica is to ever become bet­ter it must trans­fer pow­er from politi­cians back to the people.
Jamaica must become a nation of laws , that is the way democ­ra­cies thrive. The Island will thrive when every­one has a stake in the coun­try, when every Jamaican feel equal in the sight of the law.
Being equal is not about being told you are all equal , its about that equal­i­ty being enshrined in law, and enforced with strictest fideli­ty by the courts.

For years this writer has called for fixed elec­tion dates in this very medi­um. It was­n’t until this cur­rent cycle came around that I learned that the oppo­si­tion Jamaica Labor Party sup­port that posi­tion, so too does the National Democratic Movement..
The Labor par­ty was in pow­er for four years yet they did not bring this to the par­lia­ment for a vote.
Now that Portia exer­cised her pow­er by manip­u­lat­ing the process to favor her­self and her par­ty the Labor Party is upset .
Why did they not bring it to a vote if they believed in the fideli­ty of the process?

The oth­er press­ing issue is that lit­tle prob­lem of the PNP’s refusal to debate the Leader of the Opposition by attach­ing con­di­tions for the Prime min­is­ter’s participation.
Of course the Prime Minister’s con­di­tions are cow­ard­ly and gut­less but these could all be avoid­ed if there were strict guide­lines in law which makes it manda­to­ry in the inter­est of the peo­ple that the lead­ers must par­tic­i­pate in debates. In fact it should not be just one debate.
Some will say well the present laws are clear about the time Parliament is dis­solved , Nomination day and elec­tion day. On that basis they will argue there may not be enough time to have a series of debates.
To those con­cerns I say , the laws were cre­at­ed to suit that time in our his­to­ry , this is now.
We change what needs chang­ing to fit our present and future circumstance.
One debate is not enough to deal with the raft of issues ger­mane to the well-being of the peo­ple, there should be sev­er­al debates man­dat­ed in law.
Candidates seek­ing to become mem­bers of par­lia­ment should also be man­dat­ed by law to debate their oppo­nents in a town-hall type set­ting so the peo­ple can par­tic­i­pate and make informed decisions.

There are howls of con­dem­na­tion com­ing from sev­er­al quar­ters of civ­il soci­ety regard­ing the intran­si­gence of the rul­ing PNP in not debat­ing the Opposition leader.
What I have not heard is a sin­gle indi­vid­ual or enti­ty call­ing for Legislation which would elim­i­nate these problems.
In the Interest of our Country this writer and this medi­um will once again call for the following.….

(1) FIXED ELECTION DATES.
(2) MANDATORY DEBATES BETWEEN THE TWO LEADERS, AS WELL AS DEBATES BETWEEN THE CANDIDATES CONTESTING EACH CONSTITUENCY.
If these impor­tant issues are not leg­is­lat­ed we will be right back here hav­ing the very same con­ver­sa­tions the next elec­tion cycle.
This is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for the mem­bers of the House,both Government and Opposition to grow up, stop bang­ing on desks and hurl­ing insults at each oth­er and do some­thing for the country.
These two issues should be front and cen­ter when the next Parliament is con­vened . This writer will be watch­ing, regard­less of the out­come of the elections.