WESTERN BUREAU:

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller wants a provision in the Constitution to bar non-Jamaicans from becoming prime minister of Jamaica.

She made the comment yesterday at the People's National Party's National Executive Council meeting in Petersfield, Westmoreland.

"We have some constitutional issues," Simpson Miller said, "but the only thing in it to change is that we should not allow Common-wealth citizens to become prime ministers of Jamaica."

Last week, Prime Minister Bruce Golding described as a "constitutional absurdity", the provision that allows a Commonwealth citizen to become a member of parliament in Jamaica, once he has not sworn an allegiance to his country and has been living here for a year.

Disqualified

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the Jamaica Labour Party's Daryl Vaz was disqualified from being a member of parliament because he was a United States citizen at the time of the nomination for the September 3 general election.

According to Golding, this has derailed plans for the allocation of a seat in the Senate to represent members of the diaspora.

Yesterday, Simpson Miller said she did not have a difficulty with people having dual citizenship, and urged members of the Jamaican diaspora to try to gain citizenship in their respective countries so that they can have the full rights of those states.