Orville Taylor | Last word on dual identity

God bless the King, and God bless America. These two countries are our allies, and despite disagreements, from time to time, we certainly want to keep the relationship solid and positive. Yet, despite the overarching influence that the Americans have on the society on the whole, economically, politically and culturally, we are not part of the United States, and our citizens do not swear allegiance to the president.

As regards the United Kingdom, by dint of being the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, Governor General, and holders of most public offices in this country, we implicitly already swear to the King. All our acts of Parliament require assent by His Majesty’s representative.

My position regarding foreign loyalties have been consistent since my first clash with the late Wilmot ‘Mutty Perkins’, in 2005, when I spoke of the elevation of the late Justice Michael De la Bastide as president of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Never mind the bifurcation regarding England and American born Reggae Boyz and Reggae Girlz. No FIFA player can represent two countries in football competitions.

Similarly, no track and field athlete, wherever his heart is, can hop, skip and jump across national allegiances. Sanya Richard Ross, at 48.70 seconds, is not the fastest Jamaican over the 400 metres. And the gold medals won by Linford Christie and Donovan Bailey in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics were from Britain and Canada, respectively.

For good measure, the American ambassador to Jamaica, Nick Perry, is doubtless a man of our soil and a proud product of the great institution founded by the legendary Georgian, Bishop Percival Gibson.

Nonetheless, he is now American and is an envoy of America and its interests. Thankfully, there is much congruity between the policies of the US and Jamaica. However, if the unthinkable were to occur, there is no question where his allegiance lies.

DEBATED

Much has been debated about the matter of dual citizenship among our legislators. True, my unstinting position has been that legislators should have no escape route. Therefore, they should suffer like the rest of us when they pass gas instead of good laws in Parliament.

Doubtless, unless a member of the diaspora, however much she contributes to the Jamaican society or economy, has a residence here, even if she lives on her brother’s ‘eye top’; no voting rights for her.

Even if you fill the pool, if you do not swim in it, you cannot dictate the temperature for those who have nowhere else to swim.

Still, the current laws recognise that a Commonwealth citizen, resident in Jamaica, has the right to vote in an election. This might sound contradictory, given that a natural-born Jamaican, who does not live here, should be excluded. However, residence gives an individual a direct stake in the destiny of the country.

There is no question that across the Commonwealth, there is a lot of commonality regarding our legislative framework. Patterned on the British, our Constitutions are very alike and compatible across all members of the Commonwealth. Notwithstanding that, there are differences among us.

Therefore, a country that is seeking to completely determine its destiny, must remove all trappings of subordination or subjugation to an external authority. Like P.J. Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica, there was little to argue that persons who are at the helm of our political system should only be Jamaican citizens. Indeed, this should extend to the judiciary as well. If you make Jamaican laws; you must only be Jamaican.

For all the protests that Jamaicans inside this country and the diaspora have had regarding the way in which the country is being run, it would be useful if they were to recognise that Jamaica is a far more entrenched democracy than our beloved friends up north.

FREER PRESS

Recent publications from Reporters Without Borders show that although we have dipped in our ranking, our press is freer than the American. Moreover, this is a country where we have never removed an elected official by the bullet, and have given unrestricted voting rights to persons of all race colour and political persuasion, for 80 years; a full 20 before the Americans, and more than a decade before the Canadians.

Importantly, we have had a female chief justice, and no judge, whether parish, Supreme or Appeal Court, has to make known his or her political leaning or give an indication as to how he or she would vote, prior to being appointed. Furthermore, in about half of American jurisdictions, members of the judiciary are elected in the same way that politicians are. In this country, the little green isle in the turquoise sea, it would be unthinkable for such an intrusion into this institution were to take place.

While we have to recognise and respect the democratic processes and the laws of our neighbours, a quiet wake-up nudge is that nowhere in this hemisphere is there an equivalent to INDECOM, because police in North America are those who investigate police.

And it might be surprising, but a sitting president of the United States cannot be criminally charged, and he has the authority to dictate to the head of the police force that is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that an investigation can cease. It might also be surprising that in Jamaica, having once declared bankruptcy, a citizen cannot hold public office.

For these reasons and others, Jamaicans need to recognise what it is that we have and not simply be badmouthing our country, because we disagree with who is running the system or whom is in charge of the system at that particular time.

The beautiful thing about our democracy is that we have the capacity to elect and remove any persons we choose, and are capable of writing laws in the interest of the Jamaican people, without recourse to any foreign authority.

Full change; ‘No!’ for King, Governor General, British titles, King’s counsels, for any of the principals in our system of governance.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com