Skip to main content

Allegiance and Citizenship

It can be argued that there are certain positions within the administration of any independent nation-state which should be held by people having undivided allegiance to the nation-state involved. These positions are of critical importance to the conduct of the nation's interaction with the international community, and symbolize the emotional aspect of being an independent state - that is, national identity.

The list includes, but is not limited to:
. Legislators - MPs and Senators (especially Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition)
. Governor General
. Chief of the Defence Force
. Attorney General
. Solicitor-General
. President, Court of Appeal
. Chief Justice
. Members of the foreign service serving overseas.

People holding those positions should have allegiance to the host country only. They should possess exclusive citizenship during their tenure.

It matters not if they enjoyed multiple citizenships prior to consideration for the positions listed. However, they should renounce all other citizenships before they are elected or appointed to those special positions. Furthermore, your citizenship status at birth or as an adult should not matter, provided that you are exclusively undivided, undiluted in your allegiance to the country that you wish to serve.

In addition to renouncing any other citizenship before acceding to any of the positions listed, the Oath of Office should explicitly include (i) unequivocal voluntary renunciation of all other citizenships and (ii) acknowledgement of the exclusivity of the citizenship of the host country.

Jamaica today cannot afford to differentiate between Jamaicans with dual or even multiple citizenships. What is of paramount importance is the 100 per cent allegiance to Jamaica, a requirement when individuals occupy those critical positions. The constitution needs to be amended to reflect the current socio-economic political realities in clear, unambiguous terms.

Published in the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday, April 23, 2008.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dudus:The Extradition Of Jamaica's #1 Drug Don

We have posted the 3 book reviews that have been published in the Jamaican newspapers. There is now available on Youtube an interview done in late 2018. Below is the introduction by Angry People Smiling: "Dr Paul Ashley, Attorney-at-Law and Political Commentator, published Dudus: The Extradition of Jamaica's #1 Drug Don, a book which recounts the "Machinations of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to delay and frustrate the extradition of Jamaica's premier drug lord, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke." To achieve that goal, Dr Ashley went to primary sources and published transcripts from both, the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and West Kingston Commissions of Enquiry. Documents are scattered over the seven chapters. Dr Ashley provides an overview of this watershed 2010 event then examines the confidentiality breach, the delays and tactics, the machinations of both the governments of Jamaica and USA, and finally, the escape and capture of Dudus, who was wanted t
Post a Comment
Read more

DEA: Book Review #3

The third book review of "Dudus: The Extradition of Jamaica's #1 Drug Don" was by Dr. Canute Thompson under the caption "Naming politicians who 'hug up' criminals' published in The Jamaica Observer , Monday, December 03, 2018: "Young, outspoken, feisty, up-and-coming Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) heavyweight Matthew Samuda has threatened to name politicians who are “hugging up” criminals. Should Samuda follow through on his threat (promise) — and I doubt he will — Jamaica would surely benefit. And so, for Jamaica's sake, I urge Samuda to do as he has promised. But, even if he does not do so publicly, I suggest that he provides the report, with the evidence he has, to the police. Samuda's threat has led me to reflect on a recent book written by Dr Paul Ashley — a feisty and outspoken socio-political provocateur, cynic, and attorney-at-law. The book is entitled Dudus: The Extradition of Jamaica's # 1 Drug Don. This book may provide some
Post a Comment
Read more

DEA: Book Review. #2

The second book review of "Dudus: The Extradition of Jamaica's #1 Drug Don" was by Allan Douglas published in   The Jamaica Observer, Monday, October 01, 2018 entitled 'The extradition of Dudus': "I have just finished reading Dr Paul Ashley's book, Dudus: The Extradition of Jamaica's #1 Drug Don, a seven-chapter, 176-page scholarly work recording a significant event in Jamaica's history. It is very unfortunate the book will not be available for sale at bookstores or other outlets, but will only be accessible from libraries. In my opinion, the author could have spent more time researching the main character, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and providing more details about him. To understand this character properly he must be placed in context. The book needed greater elaboration of his personal life — his boyhood days, the loves and influences that made him the person he became. One was left to rely on American intelligence reports that lacked substa
Post a Comment
Read more