Dear Editor,
The prime minister's contribution to the 2014 Budget Debate was a thorough disappointment to the generations of attached Jamaicans, who are mildly interested in the political process, and now look to the United States to satisfy their political appetite as cable news feeds them colourful First World democracy and ideologies. This then manifests in their daily anti-government tweets and Facebook postings.
PM Simpson Miller apparently belongs to a generation who would have accepted such an unbecoming display of "smoke and mirrors" in a speech supposedly to inform the population of the People's National Party successes over the past two years. It seems all it was meant to do was spoonfeed party sympathisers -- not necessarily loyalists -- who may have been acting up because they fell prey to the new and improved charms of Prince Andrew "#AndrewOntheBus" Holness and the usual vigour of Audley "Man-A-Yaad" Shaw.
In today's world of follow, share and like, our leaders and older politicians are still operating under the guise that "those people won't understand, so they won't care". Both sides are guilty of letting the governance loopholes slide, which cause unaccountability, bureaucracy, and hence corruption. These loopholes are becoming too wide to ignore, especially now that we are tying the loose ends of Jamaican society that have plague us for too long -- the economy is a pillar, but governance is the unstable foundation.
Some of the important questions looming that must be looked at as important national and constitutional priorities include: federalisation, constitutional reform and oversight, term limits, campaign financing, removing MPs as ministers, elected officials accountability, meaningful local government reform (leading to autonomy), third party accessibility, and many other governance practices.
Madam Prime Minister, balancing the books, while balancing people's lives is honourable. If you're serious about people power, then truly return the power to the people by allowing the foundation of governance to become modern, stable and balanced.
Mario Boothe
m.raphael.b@gmail.com
Fix the governance loopholes
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The prime minister's contribution to the 2014 Budget Debate was a thorough disappointment to the generations of attached Jamaicans, who are mildly interested in the political process, and now look to the United States to satisfy their political appetite as cable news feeds them colourful First World democracy and ideologies. This then manifests in their daily anti-government tweets and Facebook postings.
PM Simpson Miller apparently belongs to a generation who would have accepted such an unbecoming display of "smoke and mirrors" in a speech supposedly to inform the population of the People's National Party successes over the past two years. It seems all it was meant to do was spoonfeed party sympathisers -- not necessarily loyalists -- who may have been acting up because they fell prey to the new and improved charms of Prince Andrew "#AndrewOntheBus" Holness and the usual vigour of Audley "Man-A-Yaad" Shaw.
In today's world of follow, share and like, our leaders and older politicians are still operating under the guise that "those people won't understand, so they won't care". Both sides are guilty of letting the governance loopholes slide, which cause unaccountability, bureaucracy, and hence corruption. These loopholes are becoming too wide to ignore, especially now that we are tying the loose ends of Jamaican society that have plague us for too long -- the economy is a pillar, but governance is the unstable foundation.
Some of the important questions looming that must be looked at as important national and constitutional priorities include: federalisation, constitutional reform and oversight, term limits, campaign financing, removing MPs as ministers, elected officials accountability, meaningful local government reform (leading to autonomy), third party accessibility, and many other governance practices.
Madam Prime Minister, balancing the books, while balancing people's lives is honourable. If you're serious about people power, then truly return the power to the people by allowing the foundation of governance to become modern, stable and balanced.
Mario Boothe
m.raphael.b@gmail.com
Fix the governance loopholes
-->