Orville Taylor | Unimpeachable: elections only

Unless you change the Constitution or the overarching set of statutes and ordinances which bind us, we have to accept that the verdict of any court or tribunal is lawful. Carry all the belly you wish, but the laws of America allowed for the exoneration of President Donald Trump of charges that he displayed conduct which should have him removed from office.

Of course, Democrats are free to feel undone given that their attempts to impeach him failed to get support in the Republican-dominated Senate. As disappointed as they are, there are a few things that must be made clear.

First, the senators did what the laws of America allowed them to do. They made a determination that Trump’s behaviour did not amount to misconduct worthy of his removal from office. It is a jury, not a panel of judges, and the designers of the Constitution chose not to give the authority to remove a president to a regular court, where the rules of evidence obtained and where trained lawyers presided. It is truly a trial by one’s peers. Suck it up! The system worked.

This is a wake-up call to all legal minds, who sometimes think that society serves and is subject to the law. Rather, it is law which is the servant of society. Indeed, the legislature, which includes the Senate, is supposed to represent the will of the people.

In a Republic like the USA, it is not simply the ‘will of the people’, as the notion of democracy suggests. It is an acceptance that there are a number of elected individuals who carry out what, in their opinion, is in the interest of the people who elect them, the citizens.

Thus, the issue of impeachment is not simply about whether or not a president or any other elected official has done wrong. It is whether or not those whom we elect to carry out our will believe that he should be removed. For this very reason, in the past, even when I have felt uncomfortable with the verdict of juries and allowed for the dissenting views of the public to be aired, I’ve accepted that ‘justice is done’ because all the agreed rules and laws were followed.

Second, in the case of the USA, critics of the president and the Republican party need a reality check that he did not elect himself and that a large number of Americans coalesce around the things which he stands for; not what some pundits project America to be. Therefore, if anyone wants this president to be removed from the White House, they must get the American voters to think that they are better than Trump in doing what is best for the nation. Until such time, he is the head of state and government of the country and leader of the ‘free world’.

IT IS THE LAW

Down here on Jamrock, we will be having a by-election for the South East Clarendon seat suddenly vacated by long-term Member of Parliament, former trade unionist, Rudyard Spencer. A reasonable person could conclude that despite there being no Gino Jennings and Spencer being no Vegas, he might have been quietly ushered out. Him stepping down, whether by a nudge from the Most Honourable ‘Brogad’ or him doing the altruistic thing in the interest of his beloved party, is a stroke of genius.

Whatever might be the objections of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), the constituents need representation and the law says that a by-election should be held. It is the prime minister’s prerogative and he is right in setting it early.

Still, it is well known that in the parish, the contest for the not yet vacated seat of Pearnel Charles Sr, in the North Central constituency, there is a divide as sharp as the contrast between the two sides of his hair. It is uncertain which side the heir of Pearnel falls on, but obviously, Robert Nesta Morgan had no intention of kissing up to the black side in order to stand for election. Pearnel Charles Jr is the man picked by the party to fill Spencer’s shoes.

Indeed, the polls had suggested that in the thick of things, the incumbency factor was strong on the side of the ‘Chief’s’ son and Morgan could easily lose in the close neck-and-neck battle. Charles’ is a ‘safe seat’, one which has been green since Donald Sangster who adorns the $100 bill of the same colour was alive. If the prime minister wants Morgan to sit in Parliament with him, doubtless the seat is so safe that his sitting for the election would be almost like the process being a lubricated conduit, to use a phrase from former Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

NOTHING TO PROVE

On the other hand, despite a community being named Shearer’s Heights in the constituency, Spencer’s ‘Father’ Hugh Shearer lost that seat to a young Peter Bunting in 1993 and the PNP defended it in 1997 with Basil Burrell. True, the Mayor has a strong following in the Portland Cottage division, but the cottage is not the parish which bears his name and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will have a Rocky Point to prove in keeping the seat in the general election.

Patricia Duncan Sutherland, PNP caretaker, has nothing to prove, given that the general election is in the air. If she wins, the PNP will still be in opposition and she would have spent loads of money which she might have to spend again.

Yet, Morgan should be careful as he taunts the PNP, because Sutherland has been reportedly ‘working working working’ on the ground.

Spencer’s sudden fugue may have broadsided some party stalwarts and others who simply liked him and hate the idea that someone, though Labourite, appears to be foisted on to them.

Nonetheless, this is how democracies work, we have elections, and trials and people vote. Let’s see if young Charles can Trump all challengers.

-  Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at the UWI, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com