By Lorraine Mendez
The Constitutional Reform Committee, envisaged to chart the way forward for Jamaica to transition to a republic, has still not been named.
It was more of the same in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon as Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte and Opposition Leader Mark Golding continued to hold their positions as it relates to the naming of members to the Constitutional Reform Committee.
As obtained on the previous two occasions in the House of Representatives, Minister Malahoo Forte expressed disappointment that Mr. Golding had not named opposition representatives to the committee. She also took issue with Mr. Golding's assertion that the reform was being done in a "piecemeal manner".
"Doing the work in stages is not the same as piecemeal reform in the sense of what the term is widely understood to mean. Incremental implementation is not piecemeal reform," she insisted.
Mrs Malahoo Forte maintained that the details of all proposed changes to the Constitution, which the Opposition Leader has requested, are not available at this stage.
But Mr. Golding continued to complain that Mrs Malahoo Forte had not responded to a letter he sent asking her for full disclosure on the planned amendments to the Charter of Rights and the deeply entrenched provisions in the Constitution.
He expressed suspicion that the Andrew Holness-led administration was withholding the information, arguing that they "very well know but they don't want to share it with us... [or] the Jamaican public".
In response, the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs contended that it would not be possible for the government to secretly make changes to the Constitution, since these would require a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament - a majority which the government does not have in the Senate.
Mrs Malahoo Forte said she will move ahead to name the committee after the conclusion of the next round of the Vale Royal Talks.
She expressed hope that the committee would be formed before the end of this month.
