Jamaica and the reality of our dictatorship government

In 2018 I codified, via an article published in the Jamaica Observer of March 25, 2018, my strongly held view that Jamaica was on the path towards a dictatorship.  (See link to the full article here).

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/the-agenda/are-we-on-a-march-to-dictatorship-_128766?profile=1097&template=MobileArticle

I listed four qualities of dictatorships, namely:

  • Control of law enforcement agencies, particularly the justice system and the police
  • Subverting the electoral system
  • Decimation of unions
  • Undermining institutions, norms, and conventions

 In a tweet on May 24, 2021, I listed:

  • Effecting control of the media
  • Subverting, weakening, and (seeking to) control law enforcement, the judiciary, and watchdog agencies
  • Bullying, cuddling and dangling carrots over the private sector
  • Planting voters in constituencies held by opposition parties
  • Amending laws to create special powers (for the head of government)

If the lists are merged, we end up with seven characteristics, namely:

  • Effecting control of the media
  • Subverting, weakening, and (seeking to) control law enforcement, the judiciary, and watchdog agencies
  • Bullying, cuddling and dangling carrots over the private sector
  • Planting voters in constituencies held by opposition parties
  • Amending laws to create special powers (for the head of government)
  • Decimation of unions
  • Undermining institutions, norms, and conventions

The question we must ask is: What available evidence of actions in furtherance of these qualities of dictatorships is being practised by the Holness administration?

Over the next couple of blogs, we will examine each of these and I will invite your comments on each of them.  In the meantime you may share your comments on the list of seven, above.

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