KINGSTON, Jamaica – The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) says it will not support an initiative that will limit the term of the prime minister, claiming that the Bruce Golding government is engaging in constitutional reform without adopting the proper approach.
Parliamentarians from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party on Tuesday sought to introduce the bill to amend the constitution to introduce term limits for prime ministers.
Golding has long held the view that a sitting prime minister should not head the government for an unspecified period. He told Parliament that what was being proposed is an amendment of the constitution that would take a simple majority in parliament to pass, and not an entrenched position which would necessitate a referendum.
In addition, Golding also wants to limit the power of the prime minister to call an election at will.
“It is quite possible that sometimes you will have different leaders of government but the control of the political machinery behind that particular government may remain under the same kind of direction,” Golding said.
“We cannot legislate against that but we can certainly encourage and facilitate the kind of new dynamic, broader-based more open accession to leadership that we feel is necessary.”
However, PNP leader Portia Simpson-Miller called the proposal “unnecessary” and not compatible with Jamaica’s system of government. She argued that amendments of such a crucial nature should first be put to the Jamaican people and asked for a suspension of the debate to allow “for a widespread consultation with all interest groups and the public in general because I believe that an issue such as this should not be divided in an abbreviated manner like this”.
Debate on the bill was subsequently suspended. (CMC)
