By Robert Hart, Staff Reporter A COMMITTEE of the House of Representatives, examining the possibility of increasing the number of electoral constituencies, is holding off on its decision until it hears from the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC).
During Wednesday's abbreviated sitting of Parliament's Constituency Boundaries Committee, Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, who also has responsibility for election matters, suggested the EAC's opinion be sought on the issue.
"We should suspend arriving at any conclusion until that is done," he said.
IMMEDIATE CONSENSUS
With immediate consensus from other committee members, including Michael Peart, Speaker of the House, and Dr. Horace Chang, Opposition Member of Parliament, the committee agreed to contact the head of the EAC, Professor Errol Miller, by the end of the week. The committee wants to secure the EAC's position, on whether the number of constituencies and their boundaries should be expanded, contracted or remain the same.
Dr. Phillips noted that with the constitutional limit of 60 seats now in place, amendments to the Constitution would be required for the addition of more seats.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In May 1998, the Constituency Boundaries Committee decided to recommend to Parliament that the boundaries should not be adjusted at that time. The Committee is chaired by the Speaker of the House and consists of three other Government members and three Opposition members. It is required to meet and to submit a report to Parliament after general elections in keeping with Section 67 of the Constitution.
In 1998, Dr. Phillips said figures from the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) showed that the number of electors in any constituency had not exceeded the limit provided under the Constitution.
The Constitution also says the electorate of a constituency should not be more than 50 per cent of the electorate quota, or should not be less than 66 and two-thirds per cent of the electorate quota.
The electorate quota is defined as the number of persons on the voters list divided by the number of constituencies in the island.
