Dear Editor,
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness recently reignited the debate about political representation for Jamaicans in the diaspora by proposing that they be allowed to directly elect a member of the diaspora to represent them in the Jamaican Parliament.
Under any such arrangement, it should be mandated that only Jamaicans by birth and those by ancestry, duly registered as Jamaicans, should be eligible to be elected and to vote in the diaspora.
Jamaicans in the diaspora should be able to register at their nearest overseas Jamaican mission or at any electoral office in Jamaica, providing government-issued identification from their country of residence and additional proof of such residence.
The Jamaican voters' list in its present state has many overseas residents who are registered in local constituencies, even though they do not ordinarily reside in said constituencies and many do not bother to vote locally. Therefore, those voters being placed in the diaspora constituency would give a better picture of true sizes of the local constituencies, which could likely lead to a reduction in the number of local constituencies.
Certainly, for such a diaspora vote and election arrangement to be facilitated, constitutional reforms would have to be enacted.
As is, and as may be recalled from the dual-citizenship cases a few years ago, pursuant to Section 40 (2)(a) of the Constitution, only Commonwealth citizens, including Jamaicans at home and those resident in the Commonwealth, or having dual Commonwealth citizenship, are eligible to serve in our Parliament.
Thus, a Jamaican-American, for instance, would be barred from serving in the Parliament as a diaspora representative, unless Section 40 is amended. Or would the diaspora member of parliament have to come from the Commonwealth?
Regardless, pursuant to Section 39 of the Constitution, a prospective parliamentarian must have been ordinarily resident in Jamaica at least 12 months preceding his nomination for election or appointment to the Parliament.
For what would be the sense of the diaspora candidate having to leave the diaspora to take up residence in Jamaica for at least a year before the election to the ensure his eligibility? Accordingly, unless the Constitution is amended, a Jamaican with dual citizenship from wherever in the diaspora would not be eligible to be elected to the Parliament as a diaspora representative.
Fundamentally, our Constitution should be amended to provide particularly for any Jamaican, wherever he resides and whatever other citizenship he maintains, to be eligible to serve in our Parliament, thereby nullifying dual-citizenship complications.
Under the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to have one set of basic qualifications for the diaspora representative and another for other representatives in our Parliament, not when the diaspora MP would function equally and have the same powers as the other MPs.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
The route to a Diaspora MP
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Opposition Leader Andrew Holness recently reignited the debate about political representation for Jamaicans in the diaspora by proposing that they be allowed to directly elect a member of the diaspora to represent them in the Jamaican Parliament.
Under any such arrangement, it should be mandated that only Jamaicans by birth and those by ancestry, duly registered as Jamaicans, should be eligible to be elected and to vote in the diaspora.
Jamaicans in the diaspora should be able to register at their nearest overseas Jamaican mission or at any electoral office in Jamaica, providing government-issued identification from their country of residence and additional proof of such residence.
The Jamaican voters' list in its present state has many overseas residents who are registered in local constituencies, even though they do not ordinarily reside in said constituencies and many do not bother to vote locally. Therefore, those voters being placed in the diaspora constituency would give a better picture of true sizes of the local constituencies, which could likely lead to a reduction in the number of local constituencies.
Certainly, for such a diaspora vote and election arrangement to be facilitated, constitutional reforms would have to be enacted.
As is, and as may be recalled from the dual-citizenship cases a few years ago, pursuant to Section 40 (2)(a) of the Constitution, only Commonwealth citizens, including Jamaicans at home and those resident in the Commonwealth, or having dual Commonwealth citizenship, are eligible to serve in our Parliament.
Thus, a Jamaican-American, for instance, would be barred from serving in the Parliament as a diaspora representative, unless Section 40 is amended. Or would the diaspora member of parliament have to come from the Commonwealth?
Regardless, pursuant to Section 39 of the Constitution, a prospective parliamentarian must have been ordinarily resident in Jamaica at least 12 months preceding his nomination for election or appointment to the Parliament.
For what would be the sense of the diaspora candidate having to leave the diaspora to take up residence in Jamaica for at least a year before the election to the ensure his eligibility? Accordingly, unless the Constitution is amended, a Jamaican with dual citizenship from wherever in the diaspora would not be eligible to be elected to the Parliament as a diaspora representative.
Fundamentally, our Constitution should be amended to provide particularly for any Jamaican, wherever he resides and whatever other citizenship he maintains, to be eligible to serve in our Parliament, thereby nullifying dual-citizenship complications.
Under the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to have one set of basic qualifications for the diaspora representative and another for other representatives in our Parliament, not when the diaspora MP would function equally and have the same powers as the other MPs.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
The route to a Diaspora MP
-->