Constitutional Reform Not Connecting

It is said that the constitution of the 1962 Independence process was ‘not by the Jamaicans and not for the Jamaicans’, but rather a borrowed concept from our colonial masters to smoothen our transition to an independent nation.

Fast forward to 2023, and thus far this Constitutional Reform process can be described as ‘by some Jamaican people and for some Jamaican people’, with the roadmap and phases of implementation already decided upon without much input as to what the collective mass would deem as priority or how they would like to see the process unfold.

 

An accepted notion amongst Jamaicans is that those within parliament are there because ‘they know best’ and are the brightest, they should formulate the laws or policy, debate, and vote on those laws while regular citizens should complain about issues and vote in elections. This upsetting misconception may have been appropriate in a fledgling democracy finding its footing but has no place in a maturing modern democratic nation.

 

If we were true to the principles of Democracy and the Westminster model of government then the people would be at the core of this Constitutional Reform process from conceptualization to implementation and resolution. It is wholly unfair to the people of Jamaica and specifically the youth, that the Government of Jamaica had decided to embark on a path of reform without first having the sort of inclusive discussions they are now seeking to have now. The renewal or refreshing of previous works done by commissions that existed decades ago would have been of vital importance to any administration that truly understands the impact of such a momentous change on future generations.

It also doesn’t help that the Constitutional Reform Committee seemed to have public education and communication as an afterthought. In a world of AI and TikTok, a communications strategy should have been developing prior to the formation of the CRC, seeing that the Government had the implementation approach in mind.

The CRC must resist the “token participation” tactics of that is only seen to be transparent and accepting of feedback but in practice, the policy is already set.

 

We all know distrust in government is high due to low transparency therefore It is crucial for this Constitutional Reform process to be open and inclusive at every step of the way.

 

At the end we must have a constitution for Jamaicans, by Jamaicans for future Jamaicans.