KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP), Wednesday maintained its Opposition to the move by the government to amend the Political Ombudsman (Interim) Act, allowing for the responsibilities of the Office of the Political Ombudsman to be subsumed by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ).
On Tuesday, the Andrew Holness government used its majority in the Parliament to successfully table the amendment, with Justice Minister Delroy Chuck telling legislators that investing the responsibilities of the Ombudsman in the nine-member ECJ will result in more impactful recommendations made to political parties or their representatives in circumstances where there have been breaches.
“It is in the nation’s interest to extend the reach of the well-functioning ECJ to close any gaps that may exist in the oversight of the political process and political conduct,” he noted.
The office of the Political Ombudsman in Jamaica has been vacant since November 15, 2022.
But speaking on a radio program here on Wednesday, opposition legislator Julian Robinson, a former ECJ member, said that the minister’s comments were misleading.
“Let me go back to the rationale for incorporating it into the ECJ. There was a view that the Ombudsman was not active throughout the year, meaning that the Ombudsman becomes more active during an election cycle,” Robinson told radio listeners.
“So, for the rest of the time, why are you spending this money on the office of an Ombudsman if the person is not meant to be engaged outside of the electoral process? That was the rationale for incorporating it into the ECJ. So that’s the main reason why there was initial support from us as the Opposition for that idea,” he told the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM.
He disagreed with the suggestion that incorporating the role of the Ombudsman into the ECJ was a cost-saving measure and maintained that while the opposition legislator gave a response, Peter Bunting, to the draft shared with the Opposition, there was no detailed discussion about the nine ECJ commissioners taking on the role of the Political Ombudsman.
Robinson has recommended the establishment of a separate body to deal with the political responsibilities.
“If you don’t want it to be a single person, you can have a tribunal. The tribunal doesn’t have to be permanent. It can be activated, let’s say if it’s a general election, six months before the election is called. It sits for the duration of the period, and a little bit after, it can be disbanded.
“And you identify persons who are of great repute, similar to the independent members of the ECJ, and which both parties, well, the Governor General, on the advice of both parties, appoints,” he told radio listeners.
Chuck had earlier addressed in Parliament concerns raised by the Opposition that subsuming the Office of the Political Ombudsman into the ECJ will change the character of the Commission, giving it functions that are inconsistent with the detached, independent, and objective nature that the members of the Commission have long enjoyed.
Noting that the duties of the entities are “synergistic,” he pointed out that the Ombudsman is intended to provide oversight of the conduct of political parties, their members, and supporters by promoting good governance and ensuring that political actors adhere to prescribed codes and ethical standards.
Similarly, the ECJ’s role is to safeguard the democratic foundations of the country by enabling eligible electors to elect their representatives to govern through free and fair elections.
“As there is overlap in the functions exercised by both Commissions of Parliament, and as the Chairman of the ECJ has expressed support of the proposal for these functions of the Office of the Political Ombudsman to be subsumed under the ECJ, it is clear that the character of the ECJ shall remain,” Chuck said.
He said the ECJ has long-established internal protocols for treating matters that will be adopted and applied to the issues they will now assume.
“We are not seeking to reinvent the wheel but to adopt what has shown to work. Much of what the Opposition has said regarding the very strength of the ECJ forms the basis upon which the ECJ is believed to be the most appropriate entity to undertake the work of the Political Ombudsman,” Chuck told legislators.
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