According to Cabinet Minister Robert Morgan, the upcoming constitutional amendment in Jamaica won’t affect the country’s present rules on abortion and buggery.
The Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with the responsibility of information, Morgan, recently stated, “The Government has not articulated that this constitutional reform process will disturb such wide ranges of issues.”
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The revelation was made during a virtual and in-person post-Cabinet press conference. It coincided with recent requests for the removal of Canadian Professor Richard Albert from the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) based on his bias and advocacy for pro-LGBTQ and pro-abortion rights by some church groups and the Jamaica Coalition for Healthy Society.
Albert is an expert in world constitutions, constitutional reform, and constitutional replacement with expertise in modernizing constitutions in several nations. Currently, he teaches law at the University of Texas in Texas, USA.
Morgan claimed to have recorded discussions over Albert’s appointment to the CRC that were made public.
The government is not thinking about the subject that dominates debate (in the public arena), Morgan said.
“Our intention, as articulated by the prime minister, is pretty much to focus on the republic status of Jamaica,” he continued.
Morgan went on to say that not one person on the committee will be able to compel or control the group with their opinions.
According to him, those chosen to the CRC represent a diverse cross-section of society, including members of the government, the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), the clergy, young people, and constitutional lawyers.
Margon noted, “I think that in bringing the committee together, the Government was very cognisant of getting the views of a wide cross-section (of society), including the church, and I don’t suspect that there will be anyone who can dominate a debate or a conversation on the committee.”
He said that the CRC’s members are “very strong individuals of intellect, competence, and consequence,” which explains why.
He assures the nation of the committee having the country’s best interest at heart, “So, just generally speaking…, Jamaicans can be assured that the committee was formed in the best interest of our society for its better future.”
Marlene Malahoo Forte, the co-chair of the committee and minister of legal and constitutional affairs, would address the concerns pertaining to the committee after her return from abroad, according to Morgan.
