‘Improper’

The Opposition is alleging that the Government is attempting to compromise the independence of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) by imposing deadlines on its review of electoral boundaries in the Portmore parish dispute to satisfy a “timeline”.

The concerns are outlined in a letter by King’s Counsel Michael Hylton to the Clerk of the Houses of Parliament in response to a letter that the clerk sent the ECJ conveying requests of the Constituency Boundaries Committee following its meeting on April 1.

The clerk’s letter, sent on April 4, outlines instructions regarding the creation of Portmore as Jamaica’s 15th parish and the review of electoral boundaries – a bitterly contentious issue between the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

The letter also requests that the ECJ attend a meeting on April 16, and submit a report by May 31, 2025.

Hylton, on behalf of the opposition members on the committee, wrote to the clerk in a letter dated April 8.

He said the request “does not accurately reflect” the decisions at the April 1 meeting. “The committee merely agreed to forward documents to the ECJ and ask for an update by May 31, 2025,” Hylton stated. “There was no agreement to impose deadlines or force a meeting on the commission.”

“It is quite improper for the letter to go beyond what the committee agreed. In any event, it would also be improper for the committee to purport to impose on the ECJ a deadline by which it should complete its work. The ECJ should not depart from its established processes to facilitate the Government’s timeline,” Hylton added.

The senior attorney further contended that the independence of the ECJ could be at stake. “In addition to potentially compromising the thoroughness of the methodology the ECJ adopts, doing so would also have the potential of destroying the independence of the ECJ, both in appearance and in fact,” he said.

NO COMMENT FROM GORDON HOUSE

Yesterday, Gordon House told The Gleaner that Colleen Lowe, the clerk, “will not be commenting on the matter at this time”.

At the April 1 meeting, government and opposition members unanimously supported Chairman Juliet Holness’ proposal to send the Portmore parish law and recent court orders to the ECJ, to seek its opinion on how the constituency boundaries should be adjusted to accommodate the elevation of the city municipality in St Catherine to a parish. They also agreed to request an update from the ECJ by May 31.

The vote followed an unsuccessful push by JLP Member of Parliament (MP) Everald Warmington, for the ECJ to be directed to use the Portmore parish boundaries to finalise the next voters’ list for the May 31 deadline.

“Until that is done, this is of no use,” said Warmington, who, in 2023, asserted that the boundary shift would benefit the JLP.

His proposal at the committee was immediately rejected by opposition members, with government member Edmund Bartlett emphasising that Parliament’s role was simply to forward the act to the ECJ for its advice.

Fitz Jackson, PNP MP for St Catherine Southern, sharply responded, “You must be crazy!” to Warmington’s suggestion.

Chairman Holness also rejected Warmington’s suggestion “that we insist on certain considerations”, stating, “I won’t even repeat it.”

The next general election is constitutionally due within five months, and it is expected that Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness will announce the date after the May voters’ list is published.

The Portmore parish boundary excludes several communities that historically voted for the PNP. Most of the communities are located in constituencies represented by Jackson and the JLP’s Alando Terrelonge (St Catherine East Central).

LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Last month, the Supreme Court granted a consent order in which the Government gave an “unequivocal undertaking” not to implement the Portmore parish law until the constitutional requirements on changing constituency boundaries are met. The orders stemmed from a lawsuit filed by PNP officials over the Portmore parish law.

Meanwhile, Hylton, who also represents the PNP officials in the lawsuit, also wrote to the Attorney General Dr Derrick McKoy, claiming that the clerk’s letter to the ECJ “suggests that the committee is considering embarking upon (or has purported to embark upon) a constituency boundary amendment exercise”.

“You are, of course, aware that section 67(6)(b) of the Constitution provides in relevant part that the committee shall submit reports ‘not less than four nor more than six years from the date of the submission of its last report’,” he said in a letter also dated April 8.

Hylton added that the committee issued a report in January 2018, and “it would seem to me that six years having passed, it cannot now issue a further report”.

“I would appreciate receiving your urgent comments,” he told McKoy.

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