The Constitution Amendment Bill: Perpetuating an Undemocratic Jamaica Senate 

The Constitution Amendment Bill:

Perpetuating an Undemocratic Jamaica Senate 

Rosalea Hamilton, PhD

(24 February 2025) — The Constitution (Amendment)(Republic) Bill, 2024 tabled in Parliament on December 10, 2024 addressed, among other things, the composition of the Senate (s.7) as guided by the Final Report of the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) (May 2024). The Bill retains and expands an appointed Senate, consistent with the legislative objective to “retain the Parliamentary Cabinet System of government.” I have argued elsewhere that retaining this System is the major flaw in the Bill. An appointed Senate perpetuates the undemocratic, authoritarian design of the structure of Parliament, featuring: 1) Prime Ministerial/Cabinet (the “Executive”) domination of the legislative process with inadequate oversight; and 2) limited opportunities for our voices to be heard in the law-making process, especially to foster equitable economic development. It’s time to rethink our retention of appointed Senators!

Senatorial Provisions in the Bill

The CRC Final Report argued for expanding the Senate, including “persons who are not aligned with the Government or Opposition Parties and who would be able to exercise independent judgement on all issues.” Thus, the Bill increases the Senate from 21 to 27 members: 15 Senators appointed by the President, based on the Prime Minister’s advice; 9 appointed by the President, based on the Leader of the Opposition’s advice; and 3 “independent Senators” from civil society, the private sector, or diaspora groups, appointed by the President at his/her discretion​. The increase perpetuates the built-in majority of legislators favouring the ruling party (as in the House) and, in so doing, nullifies any real meaning of “independent judgement.”

It also provides for the support of at least one Opposition Senator for entrenched constitutional measures that requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate. This avoids COMPLETE dominance of the legislative process by the Executive only in those rare instances. However, it does not address the fact that appointed Senators are not representatives of the people. The CRC argued that Senators appointed on the recommendation of the PM and Leader of the Opposition also enjoy the popular support secured by the Parties through the general parliamentary elections. This is spurious!

Retaining an Undemocratic Body

Prior to 1962, colonial Governors made appointments to the Legislative Council, the precursor to the Senate, to reinforce the legislative interests of the colonial administration and ruling class. It was never intended to be a representative body. Since 1962, appointed Senators have perpetuated this undemocratic feature of the legislative process.

Perhaps the most important principle in a representative democracy is that the people freely elected their representatives to make laws to represent their will. Appointed senators contradict this principle. While Senators (appointed or elected) can provide expertise and experience, appointed Senators lack a democratic mandate to express the people’s will in the law-making process. Retaining this structure is unacceptable if we want to improve representative democracy.

The Bill’s provisions for appointed Senators, with its built-in automatic majority in favour of the ruling Party, is not only undemocratic, but preserves Executive domination of the ordinary legislative process. Further, it perpetuates other key flaws that limit our economic development prospects.

Other Limitations of an Appointed Senate

First, no senatorial oversight of executive decisions weakens our capacity to limit the abuse of power and to prevent corruption, inefficiency, and mismanagement in the implementation of the law.

Second, appointed Senators have no capacity to foster transparency and consensus-building in the law-making process, and ensure accountability in the implementation of law. This capacity is essential for “full information decision making,” vital for inclusive, participatory law-making to support economic development. Information provided by people through Petitioning and Senatorial Hearings is critical to this process.

Third, an appointed Senate cannot address spatial inequality of access to development opportunities (i.e., unequal distribution of development opportunities across the parishes). Equality of access to development opportunity is critical for addressing development disparities between parishes. It also cannot foster community empowerment and self-determination in the pursuit of equitable, community-based economic development.

Finally, appointed Senators have no constitutional power to influence the development budget by forcing consensus among the executive and non-executive legislators. Therefore, they cannot strengthen economic development efforts in under-developed communities across Jamaica.

We need an Elected Senate!

The main reason we need an elected Senate is to strengthen our representative democracy in 4 important ways: 1) strengthen oversight of the Executive; 2) enhance participatory governance; 3) represent parishes equitably at the national level; and 4) ensure equitable access to development opportunity by all parishes and their communities.

Of the 82 countries classified by Freedom House as “Free Democracies” in 2021, 48 countries have a unicameral system (i.e., a single legislative chamber), and 34 have a bicameral system (i.e., two legislative chambers). Only 12 (mainly Caribbean) countries have an appointed Senate/second chamber. The other 22 countries with elected or indirectly elected Senate/second chamber have a common feature – Senators represent subnational units (e.g., states, provinces or regions) at the national level.

It is this feature that can unleash the underutilized economic potential in underdeveloped communities and parishes across Jamaica. Elected Senators can balance the power of the majority of MPs in the House of Representatives, concentrated in the most populated parishes (St Andrew, St Catherine, Clarendon, and St James), with equal representation of all parishes in the Senate, including the least populated parishes (Portland, Hanover, and Trelawny). Elected Senators can enhance development opportunities in under-developed parishes by making sure that each parish has a fair and equitable share of the national capital development budget.

Our move to become a Republic is taking place in a rapidly changing world with unprecedented challenges. We need an elected Senate that strengthens our representative democracy, facilitates economic development and improves our capacity to effectively respond to contemporary and future global challenges. Perpetuating the old, undemocratic system of appointed Senators in the Bill, therefore, is insupportable!!!

Rosalea Hamilton, PhD

Founding Director, Institute of Law & Economics

Email: rosaleahamilton@gmail.com 

© The Ward Post / Rosalea Hamilton