THE EDITOR, Sir:

I was heartened by Dennie Quill's column in the July 6 publication of your newspaper. In light of the current election campaign I am of the opinion that the time has indeed come for us as a nation to seriously address certain constitutional issues.

I would urge people to support Mr. John Junor's call for fixed election dates. As soon as these elections over our political leaders, government and opposition alike, should ensure that come next election cycle the Prime Minister, whomever that may be, will not be able to taunt his or her political opponents about getting everyone's attention and then 'don't announce nutten' because he or she has the soleright to call an election, for by that time a series of constitutional amendments should have stripped the executive of that and some other powers.

Politicians are primarily in the business of seeking power and once they get power they will not hesitate to use it. The Prime Minister is a politician who is currently involved in what is widely viewed as tight election race.

In her bid to gain her own mandate, Mrs. Simpson Miller will naturally use all the powers available to her to achieve that end. It is up to us to make sure that politicians of whatever political stripe, are not allowed to use state power to achieve their political ends. The power of a Jamaican Prime Minister to arbitrarily dissolve Parliament and set the election date does exactly that.

The ruling party is essentially given the right via the constitution to call an election when the time is advantageous not to the country but to itself. This point is, I think unchallengeable because we all know that no Prime Minister, having the power to call an election, would do so in a time period that would put their party at a disadvantage.

Essentially our present constitutional arrangements concentrates too much power in the hands of the Prime Minister, a state of affairs possibly detrimental to democracy and good governance. It also gives the ruling party an unfair advantage during an election cycle. We must address this and other constitutional deficiencies without delay.

I am, etc.,

KENYATTA POWELL

Kingston