re: "If Somaliland is an "Island of Stability" why don't we recognise it? "

Gawain Towler at England Expects asks some solid questions.

Money quote(s):

"(I)t is one of the "Islands of stability and order" in the area. So why on earth is he celebrating the Independence of Southern Sudan, which does not fulfil;l; the criteria set by the African Union for sovereign state status (the pre colonial borders) and failing to do so for Somaliland?

Britain should take the lead, if we accept, as we do the remarkable and peaceful existence of Somaliland over the past 20 years, why on earth do we not go the extra mile to support their accession to the Commonwealth. After all as a former British protectorate they have more right to be there than Mozambique or Rwanda?"

Pay no attention to "international law." It functions, like road signs in the Third World, more as decoration and, perhaps, guidelines, than anything binding on sovereign states. It binds no one, except when someone wants to be bound.

(Or to have an excuse for inaction.)

Not being an "Africa hand" in anything but the most broad (and mostly academic) senses, I can't explain why Somaliland gets the cold shoulder from the international community.

JO - Handling of Honduras crisis flawed from the start

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer


Handling of Honduras crisis flawed from the start

SIR RONALD SANDERS

Sunday, August 02, 2009


Call it Latin American "hot blood" or "Commonwealth cool", but there is definitely a marked difference between how the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth handle conflicts in their member states.

SIR RONALD SANDERS

Both the 53-nation Commonwealth and the 34-nation OAS have had their share of coup d'états, fraudulent elections and abuse of civil and human rights. And both organisations have drawn up Declarations of Principle for their member states - infractions of which lead to penalties of some kind.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(W)hereas in the OAS suspension of a state from membership of the organisation was the first step taken in relation to Honduras where it was claimed a coup d'état had occurred, in the Commonwealth suspension of a member state is an action of last resort, taken only after many initiatives have been exhausted.

Unlike the OAS, the Commonwealth has standing machinery designed to deal with breaches of the fundamental democratic principles to which it adheres."

&

"The OAS secretary general was given 72 hours to find a solution to the Honduran situation. He might just as well have been asked to push a huge boulder up a steep mountain. There was no way it could have been achieved given the high emotion that existed on all sides.
In giving him such a mandate, the OAS General Assembly was clearly pressed into their decision by a group of countries led by Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua and Bolivia (the key members of ALBA) who wanted their man, Manuel Zelaya, immediately back in the presidency, whether or not he had been removed in accordance with the Honduran Constitution and law. As an important aside, let me say in this connection that however legally correct the impeachment of Zelaya may have been, the interim regime wrong-footed itself by having the military remove him from the country."

_____

Responses to: ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com

Sir Ronald Sanders is a consultant and former Caribbean diplomat.

JO - Politicians ought to declare their citizenship status

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer


Politicians ought to declare their citizenship status


Sunday, March 29, 2009


Dear Editor,

Mrs Portia Simpson Miller, in response to Mr Bruce Golding's assertion that the Opposition is trying to wrest power from the government through the courts, said that the PNP "will never take power in this country unless it is by the ballots".

Read the whole letter here.

Snippet(s):

"But this is exactly what they tried to do by seeking to oust Mr Daryl Vaz on the grounds that he had dual citizenship. Ironically, they then offered a candidate who also has dual citizenship, albeit Jamaican-Canadian and a Commonwealth member."

"They will argue that they were within their constitutional right to offer this candidate for MP even though he has dual citizenship, and contrary to the principle on which this whole event unfolded."

"(E)ither dual citizens are accepted in Parliament (Commonwealth or not) or they are not accepted."

"As the purpose of the Commonwealth and its member nations continue to evolve and their personal agendas diverge, there can be no gainsaying the fact that allegiance issues will arise should a person hold dual citizenship involving two member states. This is clearly no different from a Jamaican-American dual citizenship."

"The Government and Opposition must now move with alacrity and purpose and deal with the dual-citizenship issue."

&

"(A)ll parliamentarians should declare their citizenship status. Anyone who has dual citizenship should either renounce it or secede their current position. The ultimate show of loyalty to one's country is to be shackled by the same laws that govern the people one represents."

_____

Jermaine Boreland

jirmz@yahoo.co.uk

JO - The Commonwealth at 60: Who should be its next head?

Jamaica Observer

The Commonwealth at 60: Who should be its next head?

SIR RONALD SANDERS

Sunday, May 03, 2009


THE modern Commonwealth - a voluntary group of 53 nations - celebrated 60 years of existence on April 28. For all but four years, Queen Elizabeth II has been the head of the Commonwealth. Now, as the Commonwealth looks to the future, it also has to anticipate the need for a new head.


SIR RONALD SANDERS


The Queen turned 83 years old just seven days before the modern Commonwealth's 60th anniversary. Her father, George VI, was the British king in 1949 when what was then an eight-nation grouping looked set to break up over the desire by India to become a republic. Up to that point Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) had a common head of state - the British Crown. India, which had become independent in 1947, decided that it wished to become a republic with its own head of state. In what was a remarkable demonstration not only of good sense, but also a desire to keep the Commonwealth together, the Indian government affirmed India's desire "to continue full membership of the Commonwealth and accepted the King as the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the head of the Commonwealth".

Read the whole article here.

_____

Responses to: ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com

Sir Ronald Sanders is a consultant and former Caribbean diplomat.

JO - Passover and dual citizenship

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Passover and dual citizenship


MICHAEL BURKE


Thursday, April 09, 2009


Today is Holy Thursday on the Christian calendar. The Jewish religion celebrates the Passover on the actual date (the 14th Nissan on the Jewish calendar), while the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the mass of the Lord's Supper today. At the feast of the Passover on the day before he was crucified, Jesus Christ, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, turned bread and wine into His precious Body and Blood.

MICHAEL BURKE

The Passover meal is really a living dramatisation of the Jewish liberation and their real Independence Day. It is the anniversary of the smiting of the Egyptians when the angel of the Lord passed over the Jewish homes. The homes and families of the Jews were spared because the Jews had smeared the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their doorposts.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Citizens are really the members of an independent nation. Citizenship and independence is about being ruled by one's own people, which makes citizenship very important. This is why at the time of Jamaica's political independence in 1962, the definition of citizenship in the constitution and clear guidelines about citizenship qualifications to sit in the nation's Parliament were of such great importance.

Jamaicans have been travelling to and from the United States of America for centuries, but Jamaicans did not initially see the USA as part of the wider family until recent decades. At the time of political independence in 1962, Jamaicans felt closer to the British and the Commonwealth of Nations. Since that time, it is true that increased travel to the USA and information technology have brought Jamaicans emotionally closer to the USA."

"No race or nation wants to achieve political independence only to be subjected to a foreign power at a later date. That is why citizenship is so important when it comes to eligibility for election to Parliament. Indeed, it is very important for a clear definition of membership organisations and clubs, let alone in countries. It is all about who belongs and who does not."

&

"In any case, we need to be very careful about how we review the whole matter of dual citizenship in light of recent court rulings, which has so far caused the recent by-election in Western Portland. My fear is that it might be changed to the point where aliens might one day rule us. And if that happens, all the struggle for independence by our national heroes would be totally in vain."

JG - ABSURDITIES - Balancing political and economic rights

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

ABSURDITIES - Balancing political and economic rights

published: Sunday June 29, 2008

Robert Buddan, Contributor

Bruce Golding says it is a constitutional absurdity that a Commonwealth citizen can vote and be elected to the Jamaican Parliament after spending only a year in Jamaica, while a Jamaican citizen who lives overseas and is a citizen of another country cannot be elected here.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"A foreigner, Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth can, and is encouraged to invest, that is, buy and own any amount of prime agricultural land and mineral resources, beachfront property and assets of all kinds which most Jamaicans cannot afford to own, but at the same time those same Jamaicans can constitutionally vote and be elected to the country's Parliament and become prime minister.

In other words, one has to be a Jamaican citizen to be prime minister but anyone can own Jamaica."

"Is it really the right to sit in Parliament that it should be talking about, or the right as citizens to come first in economic opportunities?

It was not absurd when the parliamentary committee with representatives from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) considering the Jamaican independence constitution agreed to allow Jamaicans the right to enjoy dual citizenship and all the economic, social, civil and political rights of Jamaicans even if they were born or lived abroad and chose to have dual citizenship, a magnanimous gesture, except only for the proviso that they would not be allowed to serve in sensitive offices of the state."

&

"We still have not resolved the absurdity of having a Queen of England as our monarch, who has refused to apologise for enslaving us and who requires us to have a visa to come and visit her country."

_____
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona. Email: robert.buddan@uwimona.edu.jm.

JG - The GG, Church and State

Jamaica Gleaner

The GG, Church and State

Published: Sunday January 18, 2009


Martin Henry, Contributor


Constitutionally, the Jamaican state is a secular democratic state. The State, however, has a strong Christian cultural and legal foundation. And not just any version of Christianity. This is a Church of England-based secular democratic state. The Anglican Church was disestablished here in 1879.
The laws of the land privilege a Christian, Protestant, Anglican view. And nowhere more so than in the special privilege accorded one day of worship above others. Sunday is a weekly public holiday [holy day] by law.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Under our secular democratic Constitution, any citizen could possibly be called upon to represent Her Majesty the Queen as head of state. Citizens include Jews and Seventh-day Adventists and others who regard Saturday/Sabbath as the weekly holy day, and Muslims whose weekly holy day is Friday."

""Every person in Jamaica, the Constitution says, "is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual ... whatever his race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest." And, "Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience ... the said freedom includes freedom of thought and of religion."

The appointment of Seventh-day Adventist Dr Patrick Allen as the country's next governor general is, therefore, a test of religious diversity and equity.

He will represent the Queen, who is the head of the Jamaican state. "The executive authority of Jamaica is vested in Her Majesty. There shall be a Parliament of Jamaica which shall consist of Her Majesty, a Senate and a House of Representatives. There shall be a Governor-General of Jamaica who shall be appointed by Her Majesty and shall hold office during Her Majesty's pleasure and who shall be Her Majesty's representative in Jamaica."

But the Queen is not only head of state for Britain, Jamaica and several other Commonwealth states, she is the regal titular head of the Church of England. And "a person appointed to the office of Governor-General shall, before entering upon the duties of that office, take and subscribe to the oaths of allegiance and for the due execution of the office of Governor-General in the forms set out in the First Schedule to this Constitution"."

&

"One of the most important functions of the office of governor general, which, in practice, is largely ceremonial, is the signing of bills into law.

No governor general of Jamaica has yet refused to sign a bill into law."