Questions about the proposed Constitution

14.AUG.09

Editor: Section 92(1) says: “The President may at any time prorogue Parliament”. This appears in Chapter VI, part 7: Summoning, prorogation and dissolution. Apart from the caption, this is the only sentence in which the word appears.{{more}}

A Parliamentary Session begins with an Opening Ceremony, and closes with an act of prorogation. This ushers in a period of relative inactivity for parliamentary committees and for parliament as a whole. The big deal is not prorogation but dissolution, which is normally followed by a general election. Under normal circumstances, the President orders the dissolution of Parliament upon the advice of the Prime Minister. Under extraordinary circumstances – such as a vote of no-confidence in the government – the President may, acting on his own discretion, dissolve Parliament and call for new elections.

I am going to deal with dissolution in a moment. First, the opening statement that the President may prorogue Parliament at any time needs to be circumscribed. As it stands, a whimsical President may make a mockery of Parliament. If we have a PM, then it is the PM who should advise the President to prorogue Parliament, which should be only a procedural matter as the parliamentary year comes to a close. There should be no other circumstance – and if there is, the Constitution must specify it.

Dissolution is a serious matter. The next step is general elections. When the President orders the dissolution of Parliament, how many candidates are we going to elect? Seventeen or sixteen? Remember, at the last general elections, one of the men elected was eventually given the job of President. Section 70(1): “A representative shall vacate his seat in the National Assembly at the next dissolution of Parliament after his election or selection.” So, when the PM recommends dissolution, and the President orders it, the President’s seat also becomes vacant. Or, more dramatically, if the government falls, all parliamentarians, including the President, lose their seats.

I have already suggested that we can avoid this if we have separate Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections.

Cedric B Harold
cbharold@cwjamaica.com