Christian Stewardship IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE
By Errol Miller T
I came to realize that Jamaica had embarked on a unique approach to this inherent weakness in democracy.
Further, I was one of the stewards of the electoral system.
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he fundamental axiom of democracy is that the people are sovereign. The inescapable fact of democracy is that the sovereign people cannot govern directly. Out of necessity they must devolve their sovereign power to representatives that they elect to form
the Parliament. The central conundrum of democracy is that the elected representatives of the people, in Parliament, can legally and constitutionally betray the fundamental axiom of democracy and compromise the very electoral process by which they gain access to Parliament. They can enhance their incumbency, and that of the political parties that hold the majority in Parliament, by the electoral laws enacted, the electoral machinery that is established, resources allocated to run the electoral process and the personnel appointed to direct and manage the electoral machinery. At the root of this betrayal are unfaithful stewards who use the power devolved by the people for their own ends. The betrayal of democracy, and of compromised electoral systems by unfaithful stewards of
power, litter the history of democracy and the contemporary landscape as democratic governance has spread across the world. Examples can be clearly seen in several mature democracies of the so-called first world, emerging democracies of the formerly labeled second world, the newer fledgling democracies of the so-called developing world and even in the aftermath of the recent Arab Spring.
My understanding of the nature of democracy was developed in my efforts to come to terms with the job that I was catapulted into doing as chairman of the electoral management body of Jamaica. I came to realize that my country had embarked on a unique approach to this inherent weakness in democracy. Further, that as chairman I was one of the stewards of the electoral system.
Jamaica became the first colony or dominion of the British Empire to be granted adult
suffrage and a representative government. In the General Elections of December 1944 in Jamaica every adult 21 years or older was eligible to register and vote, and the majority did. Between 1944 and August 6, 1962, when Jamaica became independent, five General
Elections were held on the “winner takes all” system. Two major political parties had emerged and consolidated their positions in the political arena. The “winner takes all” system continued in independent Jamaica. However, General Elections became more contentious and more violent. The lead up to the 1980 General Elections was particularly contentious and violent. The
deaths of more than 600 persons that year were attributed to partisan political motives. In a nutshell, both major political parties had used the system to their advantage, despite the fact that they alternated in government. In 1979 in the vortex of the violence that brought the country to the brink of civil war, the leadership of the two warring political parties agreed that the abusive “winner takes all” system inherited from the colonial era was not tenable in independent Jamaica. They agreed to establish a tripartite body, the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), a committee of the Parliament, to which the electoral machinery would be devolved. The EAC was composed of two members named by the Prime Minister, two members named by the Leader of the Opposition and three members jointly agreed on by both, one of whom would be chairman.
In the bloody General Election of 1980 the Opposition Party was elected to form the government. A snap General Election was held in December 1983. The party formerly in government did not contest the election claiming that the 1979 agreement had been breached. This created a major political crisis in the country since only one party was elected to Parliament. The Prime Minister acted upon popular opinion to appoint eight Senators who were not members
THE JAMAICAN EXPERIENCE
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