"It ain't over until it's over".Playing politics is a dirty business, no matter who plays it; but it is particularly abhorrent when politicians play politics with our Constitution. Because the Jamaican Constitution is the fundamental law of our land - the mother of all our laws - it must be respected and adhered to strictly. It binds politicians as much as anybody else, and they have a duty not only to uphold it, but also to update it to remove contradictions and anomalies.

Jamaica's Constitution is in need of serious reform to deepen the rights of all Jamaicans and to protect our democracy; but politicians of both parties have been joking around with the reform process because, I think, they know that the changes which will come will constrain at least some of their excesses.

In my view, this whole business about dual citizenship has not been so much about protecting the integrity of the Jamaican Constitution but about playing politics to gain political advantage.

Over the decades, persons on all sides of the political divide have contested and won parliamentary seats while holding foreign citizenship and foreign passports. Members on both sides of the House were in breach of the Jamaican Constitution in this area for so long that no one even checked on the citizenship status of political candidates, since it was not an issue.

Whoever it was that discovered the breach should have made a public announcement to all parties to make sure that for the 2007 general election all candidates must properly qualify under the Jamaican Constitution; that would have been the patriotic thing to do; that would have shown respect for the Constitution and would have shown that one really wished the Constitution to be obeyed.

But that is not what was done. One side elected to use their discovery for political advantage, in an attempt possibly to win the general election by underthrow. The information was kept quiet; efforts were made to remove from their slate candidates who would be disqualified on those grounds. The other side selected their candidates as per the past practice, and campaigning proceeded apace; and then just before nomination day the bombshell was dropped: foreign dual citizens are not qualified to be nominated!

They knew there was no time to change candidates; their opponents would have to contest the election with unqualified candidates. The election was expected to be close; the plan was to challenge the election of all the dual citizens, expecting that they would automatically be awarded those seats and therefore win a majority and form the government. They expected the result of the general election to be finally determined by the courts. The general election would not really be over until the last court case was determined.

'It ain't over until it's over'

And at first things went according to plan. The election result was close; they lost by only a few seats; if the courts ruled in their favour and a few seats changed hands they would command a majority in Parliament and could form the Government.

But then things started to go wrong. Instead of the dual-citizen candidates being disqualified and losing their seats outright, they had to contest by-elections. That was clearly not part of the plan, for not even by-election candidates were in place, never mind a refreshing electoral platform or adequate campaign financing. They have lost two by-elections so far, and they do not seem to have the heart for the fight. If "it ain't over until it's over", maybe it is now over!

Or maybe not! A maverick Opposition member has asked for each member of the House to declare his or her citizenship status, and is getting no takers - not even from the side claiming to be defending the Constitution. And constitutional motions may be filed to disqualify certain dual citizens sitting in the Opposition benches which might increase the government's parliamentary majority. Would that be poetic justice, or what?

We must respect and adhere to the provisions of our Constitution. And we must strongly advocate and even fight to ensure that our constitutional rights are protected. But we must not play politics with our Constitution. It is unseemly, and may lead to the loss of any little respect which remains.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and an environmentalist. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.