GOLDINGWEEKS BEFORE Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago proceed with the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Senator Bruce Golding, Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade, has challenged the government to reopen the debate on regional federation.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) chairman is arguing that if the CSME were to work, there was need for an "overarching supernational authority", which he said can only be achieved through a political union.
"The Government doesn't like when we raise it because they fear that you are raising the spectre of federation. Well, if you are going to a single economy, you cannot avoid putting it back on the table," Senator Golding said on Monday. He was addressing students at a seminar at the University of Technology (UTech) on the topic: 'The CSME and its implications for Jamaica'.
UNIFIED POLICIES
He argued that now was the time for a full debate on the subject. "I have been challenging the Government to put it back on the table. The people of Jamaica took a decision on this over 40 years ago. If you feel strongly that this is the way to go (CSME), put it back on the table and let the debate proceed," he said.
The Senator raised the issue after pointing out that there was the need for unified policies in the Caribbean.
"For years under CARICOM, we spoke about the harmonisation of policies to try to ensure that all of us were operating broadly within the same kind of framework," he said. "Once you get into a single economy, you are not talking about harmonisation anymore, you are talking about unification."
With unification, there would have to be a single currency, a central bank for the entire region and one monetary policy that governs monetary transactions across the region, he said.
He said unification couldn't be achieved if eight or 10 Parliaments meet separately, in separate jurisdictions to agree on a particular matter. "You can not build a single market on that basis. What sort of confidence is any investor going to have? What sort of single economic space would we create if it is going to rest on that sort of shaky basis of authority?"
