Malahoo Forte still waiting
Minister urges Opposition to name members to Constitutional Reform Committee
MINISTER of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte on Tuesday called on Opposition Leader Mark Golding to reconsider his position to twin access to the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with abolition of the constitutional monarchy as part of Jamaica’s transition to a republic.
In a statement in the House of Representatives, Malahoo Forte also declared that she would not hesitate to move on with the reforms, in accordance with Section 49 (5) and (6) of the Constitution. She said, however, that she trusted that “good sense” will prevail, and her fervent hope is that the Opposition leader reconsiders his position.
Malahoo Forte was responding to recent statements from Golding that both issues ought to be dealt with at the same time, “and not in a piecemeal fashion”.
Golding blamed former Prime Minister Edward Seaga for having “casting a long shadow” over the thinking of the Jamaica Labour Party, as he was always reluctant to go down the road of a CCJ.
However, Golding declared that his view was a personal one as the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) had not yet taken a broad decision on whether to support the CCJ becoming Jamaica’s final appellate court and twinning it with the move towards a republican political system.
Malahoo Forte responded that it was her fervent hope that Golding would reconsider his position.
“Naming members of the parliamentary Opposition to the Constitutional Reform Committee is the right and responsible thing to do. Working collaboratively to strengthen and build consensus will be a powerful demonstration to the people of Jamaica that Government and Opposition can rise above partisan considerations, and put the best interest of the nation in a place of priority, during this constitutional reform process,” said Malahoo Forte.
“I, however, trust that good sense will prevail. At the same time, because we consider the participation of the parliamentary Opposition to be vitally important, while allowing further time for reconsideration by the leader of the Opposition, I signalled my willingness to meet with him, if necessary, but I have not heard back from him since then,” added Malahoo Forte.
She said that her ministerial statement was intended to further update the House of Representatives and Jamaicans on the status of the Constitutional Reform Committee, as well as to publicly set the record straight on the written and verbal exchanges between herself and Golding.
“You may recall that when I spoke here in this Honourable House last week, I expressed my deep disappointment at the stance that the leader of the Opposition had taken to decline the Government’s invitation to participate in, and name members of the parliamentary Opposition to the Constitutional Reform Committee.”
Malahoo Forte noted that later on Tuesday, January 10, the Opposition leader issued a media release, under the caption “Series of Correspondence between Mark Golding, MP and Marlene Malahoo Forte, KC, MP”.
She said that attached to that release were four pieces of correspondence between Golding and herself, regarding the proposed establishment of the Constitutional Reform Committee.
The release, she said, expressly stated that, “the series of correspondence began with a letter from Golding to her on June 3, 2022, with a follow-up on June 22, 2022, to which she responded some seven months after, on January 5, 2023, and finally received his response on January 10, 2023”.
According to Malahoo Forte: “The correspondence between the leader of the Opposition and me, on this matter, began with my letter to him of May
31, 2022. It followed with my speaking to him within a matter of days, answering his queries and explaining to him that my sectoral presentation would contain additional details. Those details were provided orally when I spoke in his presence on June 7, 2022; and also set out in the printed presentation of even date, that was distributed,” she said.
Malahoo Forte also urged the Opposition leader to recall that she even made specific reference to her May 31, 2022 letter to him in the sectoral presentation, and provided a specific answer (as best as she could at the time) to his question concerning the need to revisit the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms so soon.
She said that she had stated in her response letter, dated January 16, 2023, that a change of Jamaica’s final court is not one which requires a referendum to effect.
“At this time, there is no consensus on making the Caribbean Court of Justice our final appellate court. Since the constitutional reform work is being done in phases, beginning with matters requiring a referendum and on which there is consensus in Phase 1, it would be unwise to further delay the work now, when ample opportunity will be provided, with the assistance of the Constitutional Reform Committee, to fully ventilate this issue at a later stage,” Malahoo Forte argued.