PM's promise
Published:Monday | September 13, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has declared he is close to delivering on an election promise to limit, to two terms, the time any one person can occupy the highest seat in government.
Golding's renewed push for term limits first came in May but was given its most definitive timeline during a wide-ranging interview conducted by veteran journalist Ian Boyne and, in part, aimed at reassuring the nation of his adminstration's commitment to its reform agenda.
In the pre-recorded Jamaica Information Service (JIS) inter-view, aired on radio and television yesterday, Golding said Cabinet had signed off on the proposed legislation for implementing term limits and that the bill would be tabled in Parliament this month.
"I should have in Parliament, as soon as it resumes or shortly after it resumes, the bill to limit the term of office of the prime minister to two terms," Golding told Boyne, a senior executive at the JIS, the Government's information arm. "Cabinet has signed off on it. I hope that we should have it printed and in Parliament in September."
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which Golding leads, had promised in its 2007 election manifesto to "impose a two-term limit on anyone holding the office of prime minister".
However, since the election and with the Government grappling with major issues such as the worldwide economic crisis, term limits and other reform items had been pushed from the front burner.
Those issues were brought back to public attention during Golding's May 17 address to the nation in which he apologised for the manner in which he had handled the extradition request for reputed crime lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke and the engagement of United States law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
Yesterday, the prime minister said the institution of a fixed election date would also be tabled in Parliament this month.
"We are bringing a companion measure to limit the power of the prime minister to call elections whenever it suits him ... that is coming along with the term limit for the office of prime minister."
In pointing out that he believed the Government has been delivering well on its reform agenda, Golding noted the progress already made on other key issues.
"The report and recommendations of the Electoral Commission are now with us and are going to be tabled in Parliament next week. We passed the plea-bargaining legislation in Cabinet and that bill will go to Parliament as soon as it resumes," he argued.
The prime minister added that the Government was in the process of completing the new procurement handbook for the award of contracts, which would enable it to complete legislative amendments to allow the Office of the Contractor General to govern the award of contracts.
He said one of the items highlighted in the handbook is the criteria which are to be used to determine whether a person or entity is fit and proper to receive government contracts.
Yesterday, Peter Bunting, general secretary of the People's National Party (PNP), said he was far from impressed by the prime minister's promises, and accused him of being uncommitted to the task.
Bunting said Golding's announcement about term limits was just a public relations gimmick.
"Mr Golding has been talking about this from he was in the NDM (National Democratic Movement). I don't think he has any intention to do anything about it," he scoffed.
"If Mr Golding was serious about (term limits), he has been talking about it for over 13 years. He has been in Opposition to make some of these changes ... . As far as I am concerned, it's just talk."