Patterson ready to take to streets over ceremonial president issues
Published:Monday | February 17, 2025 | 9:34 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson says he is ready to take to the street in protest, should a law be passed under the proposed republic system of government, which would allow a simple majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate to select a ceremonial president, if there is no consensus after consultation between the prime minister and the Opposition leader.
According to Patterson, who served 14 consecutive years as prime minister of Jamaica – from 1992 and 2006, if consensus after the first round, as outlined in a section of The Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Bill, 2024, which requires consensus through a consultation between the prime minister and the Opposition leader, is not achieved, he is not prepared to support the follow-up provision, which will allow a simple majority to make the decision.
“Now, if they ever pass an amendment that says we have a ceremonial president that is appointed by a two third majority of both houses on the nomination of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of )pposition, and if it doesn’t go through on the first round, then that person can be appointed by a simple majority on the nomination of the prime minister, I am going to be the first one out on the road because that cannot spin,” said Patterson, who was addressing a symposium series hosted by the People’s National Party (PNP) Region Six Outreach Committee on Thursday night, in Montego Bay, St James.
“You don’t want a ceremonial head of state which is a surrogate or a puppet of the prime minister,” added Patterson, who was speaking under the theme, ‘Learning from history to navigate tomorrow’.
Section 4 of The Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Bill, 2024, which was tabled in the House of Representatives last November, gives the prime minister the power to determine who becomes president in the event there is no agreement between the leader of the opposition and after three months has elapsed after either side submit a nomination.
However, Patterson was quite strident in emphasising the importance of consensus on such an important national decision, arguing that bypassing this requirement could undermine the democratic foundation of the country, which forms the basis on which he stands ready to protest should such a position ever become a reality.
Patterson also weighed in on the contentious matter of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), saying former Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante, and former premier, Norman Manley, who were instrumental in Jamaica’s push to attain political independence, had agreed the matter of a Caribbean court.
“For those who choose not to remember, on the question of the final court of appeal, there was no question. The report itself said, when we leave the monarch’s crown, we also leave the monarch’s court,” Patterson said. “I just want you all to be mindful of the fact that Bustamante and Manley, who were both committed to the monarchy, accepted that our final court would not be the Privy Council, and that is why the provision about the Private Council was put in by both of them as a simple amendment, so that, when after the other islands would achieve their Independence, and we had agreed on a judicial system to establish a federal court.”
Patterson said Section 110 of the constitution would have been taken out, and the new federal court, which is the CCJ, would have been inserted, noting that some people are trying to make political mischief by suggesting that the reason for the position taken by the Opposition party has something to do with who Opposition Leader Mark Golding’s father was.
“It is imbecilic, and I am being charitable when I say that, and I will go further, that position has nothing to do with Mark Golding. There is no way the People’s National Party, whoever is the leader, ever agrees to a situation where we leave the monarchy’s court and we don’t have sufficient confidence in ourselves to administer justice, which is accessible to the people we represent,” added Patterson.