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.
Showing posts with label Robert Buddan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Buddan. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
JG - West Portland: Holding the balance in Jamaica's democracy
Jamaica Gleaner
West Portland: Holding the balance in Jamaica's democracy
Published: Sunday March 15, 2009
Robert Buddan - POLITICS OF OUR TIME
The 2007 general elections were not quite settled. They were only a partial settlement convenient in order to have government and offset a possible constitutional crisis. The unsettled issues went to court.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The court was asked whether Daryl Vaz, who held dual citizenship, was qualified under the constitution to have a seat in parliament, and whether a by-election should be held or the seat awarded to Abe Dabdoub. The court decided that he should not have a seat and a by-election should be held."
"(T)here is a feeling in the PNP that the JLP had known before the elections that some of its candidates had held dual citizenship and had them nominated, believing them to be the persons with the best chance to win."
&
"Dabdoub won't be in a position to get the seat he felt he deserved. But he has been vindicated by the court's ruling that Vaz was not qualified to be nominated and sit as a member of parliament. He has done Jamaica's constitution and the democracy it upholds a great service. In fact, this election might be seen as a battle for the integrity of the constitution."
__________
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona Campus. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com
West Portland: Holding the balance in Jamaica's democracy
Published: Sunday March 15, 2009
Robert Buddan - POLITICS OF OUR TIME
The 2007 general elections were not quite settled. They were only a partial settlement convenient in order to have government and offset a possible constitutional crisis. The unsettled issues went to court.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The court was asked whether Daryl Vaz, who held dual citizenship, was qualified under the constitution to have a seat in parliament, and whether a by-election should be held or the seat awarded to Abe Dabdoub. The court decided that he should not have a seat and a by-election should be held."
"(T)here is a feeling in the PNP that the JLP had known before the elections that some of its candidates had held dual citizenship and had them nominated, believing them to be the persons with the best chance to win."
&
"Dabdoub won't be in a position to get the seat he felt he deserved. But he has been vindicated by the court's ruling that Vaz was not qualified to be nominated and sit as a member of parliament. He has done Jamaica's constitution and the democracy it upholds a great service. In fact, this election might be seen as a battle for the integrity of the constitution."
__________
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona Campus. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com
Thursday, March 12, 2009
JG - The culture of non-compliance
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
The culture of non-compliance
published: Sunday June 22, 2008
Robert Buddan, Contributor
I support the minister of finance in his war of words and contest of will with the private sector, specifically his charge that too many companies and individuals are avoiding or evading taxes, and that the Government's priority will be to make Jamaicans tax-compliant rather than lower taxes as the private sector demands.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Only one per cent of registered companies account for 75 per cent of corporate taxes and 75 per cent of registered companies account for less than one per cent of corporate taxes.
Customs duties amount to only five per cent of the value of imports.
On top of this, companies get tax relief, waivers and concessions to the tune of 60 per cent of revenue collected.
All of this means that the effective tax rate in Jamaica is already very low but only a few individuals and companies are paying taxes, defying the economic argument that the lower the tax rate, the more people who pay taxes."
&
"The private sector's complaint that the charge of tax cheating is too sweeping is to miss the point purposely.
The degree of tax avoidance/evasion is so great as to justify a sweeping charge, knowing that this could not be taken to apply to every single company."
Jamaica Gleaner
The culture of non-compliance
published: Sunday June 22, 2008
Robert Buddan, Contributor
I support the minister of finance in his war of words and contest of will with the private sector, specifically his charge that too many companies and individuals are avoiding or evading taxes, and that the Government's priority will be to make Jamaicans tax-compliant rather than lower taxes as the private sector demands.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Only one per cent of registered companies account for 75 per cent of corporate taxes and 75 per cent of registered companies account for less than one per cent of corporate taxes.
Customs duties amount to only five per cent of the value of imports.
On top of this, companies get tax relief, waivers and concessions to the tune of 60 per cent of revenue collected.
All of this means that the effective tax rate in Jamaica is already very low but only a few individuals and companies are paying taxes, defying the economic argument that the lower the tax rate, the more people who pay taxes."
&
"The private sector's complaint that the charge of tax cheating is too sweeping is to miss the point purposely.
The degree of tax avoidance/evasion is so great as to justify a sweeping charge, knowing that this could not be taken to apply to every single company."
Thursday, February 19, 2009
JG - The Caribbean and Europe: Talking about poverty
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
The Caribbean and Europe: Talking about poverty
published: Sunday May 25, 2008
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Bruce Golding was one of four CARICOM prime ministers to attend a summit with Latin American countries and the European Union in Peru between May 16 and 17.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The meeting was important enough for the prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, along with other top government officials from Suriname, Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guyana's ambassador to Brazil, to attend."
Jamaica Gleaner
The Caribbean and Europe: Talking about poverty
published: Sunday May 25, 2008
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Bruce Golding was one of four CARICOM prime ministers to attend a summit with Latin American countries and the European Union in Peru between May 16 and 17.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The meeting was important enough for the prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, along with other top government officials from Suriname, Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guyana's ambassador to Brazil, to attend."
Saturday, February 14, 2009
JG - Mendicancy revisited
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Mendicancy revisited
published: Sunday July 13, 2008
Robert Buddan, Contributor
When Dr Kenneth Baugh, the deputy prime minister, made his administration's maiden speech at the United Nations on October 3, 2007, a month after coming to office, there was no difference evident between his administration's position and that of the previous administration's position on international trade negotiations. Dr Baugh said that the new government would continue to pursue the widely accepted principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries under the DOHA Round of WTO negotiations, and that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) being negotiated with the European Union was inequitable and violated the principle of global partnership.
Read the whole article here.
Jamaica Gleaner
Mendicancy revisited
published: Sunday July 13, 2008
Robert Buddan, Contributor
When Dr Kenneth Baugh, the deputy prime minister, made his administration's maiden speech at the United Nations on October 3, 2007, a month after coming to office, there was no difference evident between his administration's position and that of the previous administration's position on international trade negotiations. Dr Baugh said that the new government would continue to pursue the widely accepted principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries under the DOHA Round of WTO negotiations, and that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) being negotiated with the European Union was inequitable and violated the principle of global partnership.
Read the whole article here.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
JG - Castro absolved by history ... almost
Jamaica Gleaner
Castro absolved by history ... almost
Published: Sunday January 11, 2009
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
In 1953, Fidel Castro and his comrades-in-arms failed to overthrow the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. They were arrested and brought to court. Fidel, a lawyer, provided his own defence and that of his comrades. He spoke for four hours. He then composed his speech and had it published under the title, 'History will absolve me'. Fidel's revolution did eventually succeed on January 1, 1959, at the second attempt.
Read the whole article here.
Castro absolved by history ... almost
Published: Sunday January 11, 2009
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
In 1953, Fidel Castro and his comrades-in-arms failed to overthrow the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. They were arrested and brought to court. Fidel, a lawyer, provided his own defence and that of his comrades. He spoke for four hours. He then composed his speech and had it published under the title, 'History will absolve me'. Fidel's revolution did eventually succeed on January 1, 1959, at the second attempt.
Read the whole article here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
JG - Zimbabwe, African liberation and decolonisation
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Zimbabwe, African liberation and decolonisation
published: Sunday July 6, 2008
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is faced with sanctions from the west, mediation by Southern Africa and a call for a government of national unity from the African Union. The African Union opposes western sanctions being organised by the French leadership of the European Union (EU) and the American leadership of the UN Security Council with the British in tow.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Mugabe was leader of the liberation movement, Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), which had fought for independence against the apartheid-like policies of white-ruled Rhodesia, a country that had relied on the support of apartheid South Africa.
In fact, Zimbabwe's 17-year liberation war paralleled that of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and both leaderships (Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki) remain close today.
The former Rhodesia became independent as Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980."
&
"Colonisation began when Cecil Rhodes, with the backing of the British, took over land that is now mostly Zimbabwe.
The Shona and Ndebele people fought their first liberation war in 1896/97 to get their land back but white power only grew.
White agriculture flourished and the Shona and Ndebele were shunted off into 'African reserves', the dust bowl of Zimbabwe.
Even when the war for liberation won independence it was a highly compromised independence.
Rhodesia's whites had made up less than five per cent of the population but held 95 per cent of the votes and 70 per cent of the Africans' land.
An agreement for independence reserved as many as one-third of the parliamentary seats for these whites, 20 Assembly seats and 10 seats in the Senate, and whites remained in control of the police, army, air force judiciary and civil service.
Mugabe's liberation government abolished the reserved assembly seats at the first chance in 1987 and the Senate seats in 1990."
Jamaica Gleaner
Zimbabwe, African liberation and decolonisation
published: Sunday July 6, 2008
Robert Buddan POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is faced with sanctions from the west, mediation by Southern Africa and a call for a government of national unity from the African Union. The African Union opposes western sanctions being organised by the French leadership of the European Union (EU) and the American leadership of the UN Security Council with the British in tow.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Mugabe was leader of the liberation movement, Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), which had fought for independence against the apartheid-like policies of white-ruled Rhodesia, a country that had relied on the support of apartheid South Africa.
In fact, Zimbabwe's 17-year liberation war paralleled that of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and both leaderships (Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki) remain close today.
The former Rhodesia became independent as Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980."
&
"Colonisation began when Cecil Rhodes, with the backing of the British, took over land that is now mostly Zimbabwe.
The Shona and Ndebele people fought their first liberation war in 1896/97 to get their land back but white power only grew.
White agriculture flourished and the Shona and Ndebele were shunted off into 'African reserves', the dust bowl of Zimbabwe.
Even when the war for liberation won independence it was a highly compromised independence.
Rhodesia's whites had made up less than five per cent of the population but held 95 per cent of the votes and 70 per cent of the Africans' land.
An agreement for independence reserved as many as one-third of the parliamentary seats for these whites, 20 Assembly seats and 10 seats in the Senate, and whites remained in control of the police, army, air force judiciary and civil service.
Mugabe's liberation government abolished the reserved assembly seats at the first chance in 1987 and the Senate seats in 1990."
Monday, January 19, 2009
JG - Jamaica, Cuba and the Caribbean's voice
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Jamaica, Cuba and the Caribbean's voice
published: Sunday May 18, 2008
Robert Buddan -POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Bruce Golding's visit to Cuba last week signifies two things. The realities of the world order have made redundant the old idea that 'the west' or the United States can be the centre of our foreign policy as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) thought it should be in the 1960s and 1980s. The People's National Party (PNP) had never believed it and courted 'the South', including Cuba, in the 1970s, the 1990s and beyond. Right up to the September elections, supporters of the JLP were still naively of the old view. But the crises of oil, trade and food have kept the JLP doing business with Venezuela, Cuba and China and remaining steadfast in CARICOM, even calling on Guyana to help with rice production.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The other signal is this: Jamaica and Cuba can entertain relations on a bilateral level to meet specific needs, such as in agriculture, water, housing, tourism and health. But at the same time, they can engage in a more global vision of change in the world order."
"Golding has promised President Raul Castro that he will use Jamaica's influence to improve relations between Cuba and the United States.
This is not likely to help much. Golding has little, if any, influence over Bush.
What is more, with four Jamaican Members of Parliament on the government's side holding American citizenship and another having Venezuelan citizenship, the Jamaican government could be seriously compromised considering the aggressive actions being taken against American citizens who violate the Cuban embargo and whose allegiance is sworn to the United States."
&
"US policy towards Cuba was not an irrelevant hangover of the Cold War but a clash of two world orders.
There is the current world order that the United States supports and a different vision of a world order that Cuba supports, one costly to the United States."
Jamaica Gleaner
Jamaica, Cuba and the Caribbean's voice
published: Sunday May 18, 2008
Robert Buddan -POLITICS OF OUR TIME
Bruce Golding's visit to Cuba last week signifies two things. The realities of the world order have made redundant the old idea that 'the west' or the United States can be the centre of our foreign policy as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) thought it should be in the 1960s and 1980s. The People's National Party (PNP) had never believed it and courted 'the South', including Cuba, in the 1970s, the 1990s and beyond. Right up to the September elections, supporters of the JLP were still naively of the old view. But the crises of oil, trade and food have kept the JLP doing business with Venezuela, Cuba and China and remaining steadfast in CARICOM, even calling on Guyana to help with rice production.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The other signal is this: Jamaica and Cuba can entertain relations on a bilateral level to meet specific needs, such as in agriculture, water, housing, tourism and health. But at the same time, they can engage in a more global vision of change in the world order."
"Golding has promised President Raul Castro that he will use Jamaica's influence to improve relations between Cuba and the United States.
This is not likely to help much. Golding has little, if any, influence over Bush.
What is more, with four Jamaican Members of Parliament on the government's side holding American citizenship and another having Venezuelan citizenship, the Jamaican government could be seriously compromised considering the aggressive actions being taken against American citizens who violate the Cuban embargo and whose allegiance is sworn to the United States."
&
"US policy towards Cuba was not an irrelevant hangover of the Cold War but a clash of two world orders.
There is the current world order that the United States supports and a different vision of a world order that Cuba supports, one costly to the United States."
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