.png)
00:00
00:00
00:00
Co-Chair of the Constitutional Reform Committee Marlene Malahoo Forte and attorney-at-law Clyde Williams
Co-Chair of the Constitutional Reform Committee Marlene Malahoo Forte is defending the aim of widening of the circumstances under which the life of Parliament could extended.
Mrs Malahoo Forte reported to Parliament earlier this week that the Committee discussed and agreed that there should be additional emergency situations that would allow for the extension.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding raised objections, stating that it could lead to abuse.
Currently the Constitution allows for an extension of up to two years in the event of a war.
Mrs Malahoo Forte, speaking Friday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines, argued that there could be situations outside of war which would warrant an extension.
She cited scenarios such as the onset of a pandemic or climate-related disasters "of great intensity".
She explained however that, instead of a 12 month extension, in the first instance, "we would begin with six months, and then we would devise a formula to ensure, at the end of the day, (that) the circumstances would be so clear to Government and Opposition alike, that it would be non-controversial."
She said the discourse surrounding the matter since she made that statement to Parliament has not been helpful, stressing that no decision has been made yet.
Attoney at Law Clyde Williams, who also spoke on Beyond the Headlines, agreed that there's need to make provision for extending the life of Parliament "in curcumstances where there's an emergency."
Gilbert scenario
He cited the example of Hurricane Gilbert, which struck Jamaica on September 10, 1988, wreaking havoc across the island leaving much of the country without public electricity for several months.
If an election was due during the Gilbert period we wouldn't have had any specific constitutional provision to have dealt with it; the default position would be that the Cabinet would continue to operate and run the country," he said.
What was critical, he said, was to arrive at the right formula for doing so, "because, remember we would be disturbing the vote of an electorate who had voted for that five-year term of the Parliament and denying those persons who would normally be (going back) to the polls."
Having such a provision, he said, avoids the hurricane scenario he cited, stresseing that "we don't want to have the default because that would then be more in vogue with what the Leader of the Opposition is trying to avoid."
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
