Just four of the People's National Party's 28 members of Parliament (MPs) could have made Dr Peter Phillips leader of the Opposition without him contesting, much more winning, next Saturday's party presidential election. Or, they could have decided to retain Portia Simpson Miller in the job. These very powerful people are Peter Bunting, Robert Pickersgill, Luther Buchanan and Ronald Thwaites.
When asked by The Gleaner a few weeks ago, the first three did not declare support for a candidate because of their party offices as chairman, general secretary and deputy general secretary, respectively. Ronald Thwaites simply did not indicate how he would be voting come September 20. The other 24 PNP MPs were divided equally between Portia Simpson Miller, current party president, and Dr Peter Phillips, challenger.
As everybody knows, grass-roots party delegates from real and paper groups all over the country will decide on Saturday who will be party leader. And that level of the party has, up till now, favoured Mama P over the Doc. But, if we are faithful to the Constitution, they don't get to decide who is to be appointed leader of the Opposition.
In fact, it is a little puzzling that the Governor General, in light of the dead-heat split of support for the two candidates for the presidency of the PNP among Opposition MPs, has not activated his powers under Section 80 of the Constitution. Subsection (3) of Section 80 states: "Whenever the governor general has occasion to appoint a leader of the Opposition, he shall, in his discretion, appoint the member of the House of Representatives who, in his judgement, is best able to command the support of a majority of those members who do not support the Government, or, if there is no such person, the member of that House who, in his judgement, commands the support of the largest single group of such members who are prepared to support one leader."
Please note that this constitutional ball is squarely in the governor general's court, who is duly authorised to act in his discretion. Sir Kenneth has little basis on which to continue to believe that Portia Simpson Miller, by virtue of being party leader, now enjoys majority support among MPs who do not support the Government.
the twist
And please note that the Constitution does not have a single word to say about political parties, or about their leaders, being appointed as officers of the State. From a strictly constitutional point of view, political parties are, indeed, private members organisations. But there is, of course, the twist that their goal is to exercise public authority through government and, therefore, are of considerable public interest.
In this regard, Chairman Pickersgill is closer to the constitutional truth than The Gleaner's editorial last Thursday berating him for his comment that "this is about delegates choosing a leader. That is an internal matter, which does not necessarily [i.e. of constitutional necessity] have to be played out in public".
As usual, the real truth lies somewhere in the middle. No political party should expect public trust and confidence in its quest to exercise state power if its crucial business remains purely internal and private. But that is not a constitutional issue; it is a matter of political pragmatism for the party itself.
To the degree that the appointment of a leader of the Opposition has nothing to do with political parties, it has nothing to do with elections either. The Constitution simply states: "Whenever the governor general has occasion to appoint a leader of the Opposition." Subsection (5) of Section 80 goes on to say: "If in the judgement of the governor general, the leader of the Opposition no longer is able to command the support of a majority of those members of the House of Representatives who do not support the Government, or, as the case may be, the support of the largest single group of such members who are prepared to support one leader, the governor general, acting in his discretion, shall revoke the appointment of the leader of the Opposition."
constitutional obligation
For some time now, it appears, Sir Kenneth has had a constitutional obligation to make a determination on the leadership of Her Majesty's loyal Opposition.
Convention notwithstanding, the leader of the Opposition need not be the leader of a party. And there have been several occasions in Jamaica's political history when that, by default, was not the case. Norman Manley, leader of the PNP for 31 years, lost his seat in one election and could not serve as leader of the Opposition. On the Government side, Bustamante remained leader of the JLP for a while after old-age decrepitude forced him to resign as prime minister. And, most recently, after prodigal son Bruce Golding had made his way back home to the JLP in tattered blue rags, Dr Kenneth Baugh served as leader of the Opposition while the party leader awaited winning his ultra-safe West Kingston seat in a by-election.
And going beyond Saturday, the outcome of that nasty little internal party contest should not be left to be the sole determinant of who is to be leader of the Opposition. The non-government side of Parliament is very, very clearly divided in support of a leader and the governor general must forthwith invoke the powers of Section 80 of the Jamaica Constitution and determine a fit and proper leader of the Opposition, who may not even be Portia Simpson Miller or Peter Phillips. Only 28 people, at the moment, get to decide that.
Martin Henry is a communications consultant. Feedback may be sent to medhen@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.
