No room for non-J’cans
Patterson argues no reason to allow Commonwealth citizens who aren’t Jamaicans to sit in Parliament; dual citizens should not hold certain sensitive positions
Published:Thursday | June 6, 2024 | 12:11 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has declared that qualification for sitting in Jamaica’s Parliament should be based on Jamaican nationality, while at the same time arguing that Section 40 of the Constitution should not be confined to legislators.
Section 40 (2) (a) of the Constitution prohibits membership of the legislature to anyone who “is by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state” except that state is a Commonwealth country.
“In my view, no valid reason exists for maintaining the provisions pertaining to a Commonwealth citizen other than a citizen of Jamaica who is resident for at least 12 months to be eligible for parliamentary office,” said Patterson, whose reasoning was the focus of a discussion on the Jamaican Constitution at The University of the West Indies Faculty of Law on Wednesday.
Patterson said the qualifications for office must be based on Jamaican citizenship.
His comments come amid Jamaica’s constitutional-reform process and intense debate over dual citizenship.
“I don’t want to cause any confusion. Citizens of the Commonwealth are at the present time legally entitled to sit in the House or the Senate. I am deliberately confining my remarks to the constitutionality of any such position …,” said Patterson.
“It is my considered view that Section 40 should not be confined to parliamentarians but extended … . There are some positions that I think have to make it clear that allegiance is to Jamaica alone,” he added.
He said that over the life of his 14-year reign as prime minister, he had to put people who were up for appointment whether they had dual citizenship and the possibility of renouncing because of the sensitivity of the positions they were to hold.
He said that without hesitation, they renounced.
Patterson suggested that positions such as the chief of [defence] staff, permanent secretaries, members of the defence board, the chief justice, the president of the Court of Appeal, electoral commissioners, and the director of elections should not hold dual citizenship.
“All of these require further national scrutiny and discussion and would apply to further appointments as existing conditions of judges cannot be altered to their disadvantage while serving on the Bench,” Patterson said.
While Patterson was specific in outlining the types of sensitive public appointments he does not believe should be made to persons holding multiple allegiances, in recent weeks, concern has been focused on whether legislators with multiple citizenships should be allowed to sit in Gordon House even if they formed part of the Commonwealth.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding has come under pressure for also holding British citizenship which, by law, is permitted. Golding received British citizenship because his father was a national of that country.
Last week, Cabinet minister Matthew Samuda, who also holds British citizenship, announced that he had begun the process of renouncing his birthright. Samuda was born in the United Kingdom.
Cabinet minister Pearnel Charles Jr was also facing scrutiny over whether he sat in the Senate for over a year between 2016 and 2017 while holding United States (US) citizenship. He has since denied the claim.
Additionally, the Opposition People’s National Party has floated the possibility of bringing court action against Member of Parliament Michelle Charles, Charles Jr’s sister, to disclose whether she remains a citizen of the US.