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Excessive political partisanship ruining our prospects
Geof Brown
Friday, December 07, 2007
THIS column noted in a recent article that travelling abroad provides perspectives on the state of our existence as a nation and a people. And it noted as well that whereas we fall short in several areas in comparison with other developing countries, there is one thing of which we can be justly proud, and that is the relatively peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. As those who follow the movements of foreign investors will know, frightening though the escalating crime (especially murder) rate may be, it is a stable political climate which counterbalances the risk of no foreign investment whatever.
But we now must pay serious attention to protecting this yet fragile political legacy still being nurtured in a young independent nation.
The still-new political government has appeared to set out with a will to fulfil some of its campaign promises in the first 100 days and it deserves credit for this. At the same time, however, the crime rate under its stewardship has spiralled out of control at a numbingly frightful rate. Now, only fools would put all or most of the blame at the feet of the government newly in power. But already there are voices calling for the government to wave the magic wand and curb the crime escalation. That one-track "government must do all" is the same simplistic thinking which was used to condemn the previous administration's efforts to deal with crime. True, the new government's plan of action must become quickly evident since crime is the greatest threat to our internal stability and to the flow of economy-sustaining external investments.
But it is only through the concerted action of government and Opposition combined with the citizenry and civil society that the crime monster will be effectively tackled. And our political leaders must show common solidarity to set the tone and play the tune for the rest of us to follow. This will not happen if either through rhetoric or action the two major political parties cannot present a united front. In that context, the utterances of several prominent leaders of the government in the past few days are extremely disturbing. Taking political partisanship to a dangerous new level, two government members of parliament (one a junior minister) have publicly and defiantly told constituents that they will not receive legitimate benefits unless they vote for the governing Jamaica Labour Party.
Of the two, member of parliament Everald Warmington is being treated as one whose intemperance is to be expected. Incidentally, the Speaker of the House of Parliament, the Hon Delroy Chuck, has excused the MP's behaviour as "political exuberance" - an obvious mocking reminder of the "youthful exuberance" excuse of a minister's blunder in the previous administration. The matter of the other MP, the Hon Bobby Montague, declaring that essential services of roads and water would be denied constituents who do not vote for the JLP, brooks no such excuse. Bear in mind that this is the junior minister responsible for local government speaking on the campaign trail for the just-concluded local government elections.
That is rather like saying there is no appeal to Caesar from the edicts of Caesar. And if there was any doubt left as to whether the minister's remarks were simply "political exuberance", he not only repeated the politically blackmailing statements for emphasis, but dared the prime minister (his political boss) to reverse him. To his credit the PM, Mr Bruce Golding, has promptly and publicly rebuked the minister and promised further action. How that action can be less than removing the minister from the portfolio where he should be protecting the equal rights of all citizens, irrespective of political affiliation, is not conceivable. For it is the same prime minister who, during the local government election campaign, publicly asserted the need for the candidates of his political party (the JLP) to avoid arrogance and show humility in dealing with the electorate.
It is absolutely amazing that a politician of such promise as Mr Montague could fail to see how his public pronouncements of rank partisanship would hurt rather than help his party's prospects. And it is equally amazing that politicians of any stripe can fail to see how excessive political partisanship will ruin the prospects for revival and success of the country's economy. The same of course applies to the need for a non-partisan approach to the crippling problem of escalating crime. We need political maturity to avoid shooting ourselves in the foot. Right now the political immaturity of a Bobby Montague or an Everald Warmington (reinforced by the surprising implied endorsement of such immaturity by the seasoned the Hon Delroy Chuck) can only hurt the prospects for their party.
No less, the practice and display of excessive political partisanship by any of our political leaders can but do only harm and no good for the prospects of our nation in our struggle against crime and in our efforts for economic growth.
Footnote: This column joins the nation in mourning the loss of a truly great son, Herb McKenley. Now there was a shining example of humility in spite of greatness. What a worthy example for leaders in the political sphere to emulate!
E-mail: geofbrown@gmail.com or browngeof@hotmail.com
Geof Brown
Friday, December 07, 2007
THIS column noted in a recent article that travelling abroad provides perspectives on the state of our existence as a nation and a people. And it noted as well that whereas we fall short in several areas in comparison with other developing countries, there is one thing of which we can be justly proud, and that is the relatively peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. As those who follow the movements of foreign investors will know, frightening though the escalating crime (especially murder) rate may be, it is a stable political climate which counterbalances the risk of no foreign investment whatever.
But we now must pay serious attention to protecting this yet fragile political legacy still being nurtured in a young independent nation.
The still-new political government has appeared to set out with a will to fulfil some of its campaign promises in the first 100 days and it deserves credit for this. At the same time, however, the crime rate under its stewardship has spiralled out of control at a numbingly frightful rate. Now, only fools would put all or most of the blame at the feet of the government newly in power. But already there are voices calling for the government to wave the magic wand and curb the crime escalation. That one-track "government must do all" is the same simplistic thinking which was used to condemn the previous administration's efforts to deal with crime. True, the new government's plan of action must become quickly evident since crime is the greatest threat to our internal stability and to the flow of economy-sustaining external investments.
But it is only through the concerted action of government and Opposition combined with the citizenry and civil society that the crime monster will be effectively tackled. And our political leaders must show common solidarity to set the tone and play the tune for the rest of us to follow. This will not happen if either through rhetoric or action the two major political parties cannot present a united front. In that context, the utterances of several prominent leaders of the government in the past few days are extremely disturbing. Taking political partisanship to a dangerous new level, two government members of parliament (one a junior minister) have publicly and defiantly told constituents that they will not receive legitimate benefits unless they vote for the governing Jamaica Labour Party.
Of the two, member of parliament Everald Warmington is being treated as one whose intemperance is to be expected. Incidentally, the Speaker of the House of Parliament, the Hon Delroy Chuck, has excused the MP's behaviour as "political exuberance" - an obvious mocking reminder of the "youthful exuberance" excuse of a minister's blunder in the previous administration. The matter of the other MP, the Hon Bobby Montague, declaring that essential services of roads and water would be denied constituents who do not vote for the JLP, brooks no such excuse. Bear in mind that this is the junior minister responsible for local government speaking on the campaign trail for the just-concluded local government elections.
That is rather like saying there is no appeal to Caesar from the edicts of Caesar. And if there was any doubt left as to whether the minister's remarks were simply "political exuberance", he not only repeated the politically blackmailing statements for emphasis, but dared the prime minister (his political boss) to reverse him. To his credit the PM, Mr Bruce Golding, has promptly and publicly rebuked the minister and promised further action. How that action can be less than removing the minister from the portfolio where he should be protecting the equal rights of all citizens, irrespective of political affiliation, is not conceivable. For it is the same prime minister who, during the local government election campaign, publicly asserted the need for the candidates of his political party (the JLP) to avoid arrogance and show humility in dealing with the electorate.
It is absolutely amazing that a politician of such promise as Mr Montague could fail to see how his public pronouncements of rank partisanship would hurt rather than help his party's prospects. And it is equally amazing that politicians of any stripe can fail to see how excessive political partisanship will ruin the prospects for revival and success of the country's economy. The same of course applies to the need for a non-partisan approach to the crippling problem of escalating crime. We need political maturity to avoid shooting ourselves in the foot. Right now the political immaturity of a Bobby Montague or an Everald Warmington (reinforced by the surprising implied endorsement of such immaturity by the seasoned the Hon Delroy Chuck) can only hurt the prospects for their party.
No less, the practice and display of excessive political partisanship by any of our political leaders can but do only harm and no good for the prospects of our nation in our struggle against crime and in our efforts for economic growth.
Footnote: This column joins the nation in mourning the loss of a truly great son, Herb McKenley. Now there was a shining example of humility in spite of greatness. What a worthy example for leaders in the political sphere to emulate!
E-mail: geofbrown@gmail.com or browngeof@hotmail.com
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