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Constitutional Reform: Recognize Political Parties

The Constitution of Jamaica is silent on political parties: yet they have played crucial roles in elections to the Parliament and are now governed by regulations requiring them to be registered. It is time to end this hypocritical "political laundering".

This silence facilitates the practice of"crossing the floor" by elected representatives in Parliament, without any consultation/approval of the constituency affected and any guidelines or consequences stipulated in the Constitution.

The MP, for whatever reason--ranging from disagreement with the party leader/president, unsatisfied political ambitions to sheer political opportunism--simply crosses the floor in Parliament and takes a seat amidst the enthusiastically welcoming colleagues. The is usually accompanied by a letter of resignation from the former party and some release from the other stating that the application for membership was approved by a specially convened meeting of the appropriate sub-committee. Indeed a member can "cross" and "re-cross" without any constitutional consequence.

The possibility (as distinct from the probability) of a member switching sides has a number of significant consequences for the party president/ leader's ability to enforce party discipline and distribute portfolio responsibilities according to proven capabilities.The effects are further leveraged in a situation of narrow electoral margins and the proposed party agenda.

The Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago provides a template for one constitutional consequence, namely the seat becoming vacant:

Section 49(2) states that a member of the House of Representatives shall also vacate his seat in the House where;
(e)"having been a candidate of a party and elected to the House, he resigns from or is expelled by that  party."

Section 49A provides for a procedure consequent on the vacation of seat where member resigns or is expelled.

Certainly this should pique the interest of the PNP President and the JLP Leader, as both political parties have had very telling experiences of members who have crossed the floor. The changing political landscape may facilitate a greater frequency.

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