JAMAICA | Malahoo Forte’s Intervention Was Cunning, Calculated, and Well-Timed
Author and Political Commentator O. Dave Allen
Dear Editor,
The Gleaner publication in its editorial was right to treat Marlene Malahoo Forte’s intervention on the NaRRA Bill as a rare and significant departure from Jamaica’s normal parliamentary script. But it would be politically naïve to treat her stand only as an act of conscience.
This was no casual outburst from a restless backbencher. This was a cunning, calculated, and well-timed political move by a woman who knows the law, understands Parliament, and recognizes the vulnerability of a Prime Minister whose administration has lost much of its former lustre.
Malahoo Forte did not merely disagree with the Bill. She surgically exposed its weaknesses. She questioned the concentration of power in the hands of the minister and the chief executive officer. She warned against a structure in which the same authority may be involved in procurement, implementation, monitoring, reporting, compliance, and risk management. In plain language, she identified the danger of a body being asked to oversee itself.
That is not a minor technical concern. That is a constitutional and governance red flag.
The NaRRA Bill is being presented as a necessary instrument to coordinate national reconstruction after Hurricane Melissa. No reasonable Jamaican can deny the urgent need for speed, efficiency, and coordinated rebuilding. But speed cannot become a cover for unchecked power. Reconstruction cannot become a blank cheque. Disaster recovery must not be used to weaken the very safeguards that protect public funds, environmental standards, planning controls, and democratic accountability.
Malahoo Forte’s warning that the Bill may sacrifice accountability for speed is therefore important. But her motive must also be examined.
This is a former Attorney General and former Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. She was once entrusted by Prime Minister Andrew Holness with the historic assignment of guiding Jamaica toward constitutional reform and republican status. She stood at the centre of government, not at its margins.
Then came the political fall.
After the latest Cabinet formation, she was left out. The Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs was dissolved and folded back into the Ministry of Justice. The woman once presented as the architect of Jamaica’s constitutional future was returned to the backbench. That was not a routine reassignment. It was the clipping of political wings.
Against that background, her intervention on the NaRRA Bill must be read carefully. She is no longer bound by Cabinet solidarity. She now has the freedom to speak. But she also has the incentive to reposition herself.
This is what makes the moment so dangerous for the Prime Minister.
If Andrew Holness moves against her, he confirms that independent thought is not tolerated inside the Jamaica Labour Party. If he ignores her, he allows her to grow in stature as a principled constitutional voice. If he accepts her criticism, he admits that his Government brought a flawed and dangerous Bill to Parliament.
That is the trap.
Malahoo Forte has chosen her ground with precision. The NaRRA Bill is not a minor matter. It concerns billions of dollars in reconstruction expenditure, ministerial override powers, procurement, regulatory approvals, secrecy, indemnity, and the balance between speed and accountability. By intervening here, she has placed herself on the side of constitutional caution, public accountability, and parliamentary scrutiny.
That is smart politics.
It also allows her to reclaim relevance. Having been removed from Cabinet, she now re-enters the national conversation not as a discarded minister, but as a legal authority warning the country against executive overreach.
This does not mean she is wrong. On the contrary, she may be very right. Her concerns about the Bill deserve serious attention. But political calculation and sound legal reasoning can exist at the same time. In Jamaica, principle often travels in the company of ambition, grievance, and survival.
The Opposition’s enthusiastic desk-banging should also be understood in that light. They were not merely applauding constitutional principle. They were witnessing a senior government figure create an opening in the ruling party’s armour. For the Opposition, Malahoo Forte’s dissent was a gift. For the Prime Minister, it was a warning.
The Government’s response will now be revealing. It can pretend that this is business as usual. It can try to push the Bill through with cosmetic changes. Or it can acknowledge that a law of this magnitude requires deeper consultation, stronger guard rails, and perhaps referral to a joint select committee.
The country must not be distracted by personalities alone. The real issue is whether post-hurricane reconstruction will be governed by transparency or executive convenience. Jamaica needs rapid rebuilding, yes, but not at the cost of weakening Parliament, bypassing regulators, or placing extraordinary powers in the hands of ministers without sufficient safeguards.
Still, the politics cannot be ignored. Malahoo Forte has made her move. It was bold, assertive, measured, and dangerous. She has reminded the country that she remains a formidable political and legal actor. She has also placed the Prime Minister in an uncomfortable position at a time when public confidence in governance is under strain.
The so-called rare departure from tradition was therefore more than conscience. It was calculation.
Marlene Malahoo Forte has not simply challenged a Bill. She has challenged the authority of a Prime Minister who once elevated her, then cast her aside. Her wings may have been clipped, but she has shown that she still knows how to strike.
O. Dave Allen is a Montego Bay-based writer and community development advocate.
Contact O. Dave Allen at
