No honeymoon for new parliamentarians
By Lynford Simpson, Parliamentary Reporter

Parliament in session. - File

A BUSY legislative agenda awaits those who will make it to Gordon House after Wednesday's parliamentary elections and as such, there will be no honeymoon for the men and women who will make up the next Parliament.

There are several pieces of important legislation that, having fallen off the order paper, will have to be brought back as a matter of urgency. These include the amended Companies Act which is taking forever to be passed into law, the Corruption Prevention Act, the new Charter of Rights Bill and Parliament's (Integrity of Members) Act.

A new Companies Bill, which was drafted in 1998, was laid before the House in 2001, based on the recommendations of a Joint Review Committee. The Bill received the approval of the House in March 2001 but concerns were raised in the Senate and it was sent back to a Joint Select Committee. That Committee, which is chaired by Douglas Orane, Independent Senator, has only recently completed its work.

The Bill is yet to be passed, while other CARICOM countries like Trinidad and Tobago (1995) and Barbados (1985) have long passed modern companies' legislation. The way business is practised today has changed dramatically from the last century and the new Act is urgently needed to guide the process.

The process of Constitutional reform should dominate the early life of the new Parliament as both the legislators and the wider Jamaican public are now seemingly agreed that it cannot be business as usual Jamaica's version of the Westminster system of governance is just not cutting it. Issues such as the separation of powers and whether we remove The Queen as Head of State must be placed on the front burner.

The suspended debate on the proposed Charter of Rights should soon resume and should be completed with dispatch and a new Charter implemented. Politicking in my view was at the heart of the suspension of the debate as, although the parliamentary Opposition said there was no time to complete the debate, it is clear that both sides want to claim paternity for the new Charter.

Judging by the heated debate that was sparked between the Government and Opposition with the recent passage of two new Oaths of Allegiance, the road ahead for a new Charter of Rights may be a bit bumpy. The Opposition has, and rightly so, objected to the piecemeal approach being taken to Constitutional reform. In June, it forced a suspension of the debate on the new Bill, arguing that some areas needed more study. In short, the new Charter of Rights will expand the 'rights' Jamaicans now enjoy under the Constitution.

Still to be passed into law nearly two years after it was approved by Parliament, is the Corruption Prevention Act, the regulations for which were tabled more than a year after the passage of the Bill. Following the tabling of the regulations in July, 2002, an amended version of the Bill was sent back to a Joint Select Committee which is studying the regulations. In the meantime, the appointed members of the Corruption Prevention Commission remain idle while allegations of corruption against politicians and public servants abound.

The standout in the category of Bills that need to be passed or perhaps strengthened as a mater of urgency, is the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act which, despite recent amendments, continues to be disregarded by the country's chief lawmakers, our parliamentarians. The new administration should consider further strengthening of the Act which was amended in 2001, to give it teeth.

So bad is the situation that the names of more than a dozen Senators and Members of Parliament were submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in July after they failed to supply the Integrity Commission with their annual declarations, or who refused to provide clarification on their financial dealings. Alvin Chong, secretary- manager of the commission, said the names were only submitted to DPP Kent Pantry, after the parliamentarians were repeatedly warned.

Parliamentarians must lead by example and since the House leaders the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, Speaker of the House and President of the Senate have not been able to get their charges to comply with a piece of legislation that governs their activities, the DPP should make an example of them by prosecuting the delinquents. Perhaps a fine of $200,000 and a prison term not exceeding two years are not enough of a deterrent to our elected and nominated representatives.

Whoever gets the opportunity to govern us after Wednesday's general election must understand that Jamaicans are not interested in who claims paternity for implementing or amending legislation. People are more interested in politicians who implement laws that will advance their welfare and make for a more orderly society. They are not interested in politicians who live outside of the very laws they implement.