Dear Editor,
We need a fixed election date now more than any time since Universal Adult Suffrage was granted to Jamaica in 1944.
The election date should be entrenched in the Constitution of Jamaica. The prime minister should not be invested with the authority to call an election when it suits him or her. The country is sovereign and should come first.
It is imperative that this change be done, and Dr Peter Phillips has expressed his opinion, hopefully as a signal both to foreign and local investors. Investors tend to take a wait-and-see attitude, awaiting the outcome of a general election before making investment plans, as the party elected may not be the one they would prefer to work with.
The advantages of a fixed election date include:
1) Investors could be given an opportunity to plan.
2) It would militate against a long election campaign.
3) The Opposition parties would not be caught off guard and unprepared for the election.
4) It would eliminate speculation.
5) International observers could plan well in advance to send observers.
6) Advertisers could woo the parties for the advertising dollar.
7) The press could plan well ahead of time as to which events to cover.
8) The electorate would be given enough time to make up their minds as to which party to vote for.
9) It would be less taxing on the Electoral Office of Jamaica.
10) The security forces could plan their strategy to deal with safety, lawlessness and other breaches of the peace.
I would suggest the first of July for the fixed election date and we would go into the Emancipendence celebrations with a new Government.
Joseph M Cornwall Sr, JP
Managing Director / CEO
House of Tranquillity Funeral Home Limited
tranquillityfh@yahoo.com
Fix it at July 1
-->
We need a fixed election date now more than any time since Universal Adult Suffrage was granted to Jamaica in 1944.
The election date should be entrenched in the Constitution of Jamaica. The prime minister should not be invested with the authority to call an election when it suits him or her. The country is sovereign and should come first.
It is imperative that this change be done, and Dr Peter Phillips has expressed his opinion, hopefully as a signal both to foreign and local investors. Investors tend to take a wait-and-see attitude, awaiting the outcome of a general election before making investment plans, as the party elected may not be the one they would prefer to work with.
The advantages of a fixed election date include:
1) Investors could be given an opportunity to plan.
2) It would militate against a long election campaign.
3) The Opposition parties would not be caught off guard and unprepared for the election.
4) It would eliminate speculation.
5) International observers could plan well in advance to send observers.
6) Advertisers could woo the parties for the advertising dollar.
7) The press could plan well ahead of time as to which events to cover.
8) The electorate would be given enough time to make up their minds as to which party to vote for.
9) It would be less taxing on the Electoral Office of Jamaica.
10) The security forces could plan their strategy to deal with safety, lawlessness and other breaches of the peace.
I would suggest the first of July for the fixed election date and we would go into the Emancipendence celebrations with a new Government.
Joseph M Cornwall Sr, JP
Managing Director / CEO
House of Tranquillity Funeral Home Limited
tranquillityfh@yahoo.com
Fix it at July 1
-->