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Restoring respectability to the PNP
Chris Burns
Monday, April 14, 2008
The erosion of the People's National Party's impeccable reputation started shortly after it won the 11th general elections on December 9, 1989. At the conclusion of those elections, the PNP won 45 seats to the Jamaica Labour Party's 15 seats. The elections heralded the return of Michael Manley as prime minister of Jamaica. However, because of ill health, Mr Manley retired from representational politics at the end of March 1992.
An internal election was held; PJ Patterson won the presidency over Ms Portia Simpson and became Jamaica's 6th prime minister. The PNP went on to win three consecutive terms: 1993, 1997 and 2002. Mr Patterson retired in 2006, and after a long, abusive, and divisive internal election, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller emerged as the fourth and first woman president of the PNP, and as the seventh and first woman prime minister. Mrs Simpson Miller's tenure was short-lived, as the JLP cruised to victory in 2007, winning 32 seats to the PNP's 28 seats.
Since its electoral loss of September 2007, the PNP has been taking some batterings, mostly of its own making. Yet, any honest review of recent developments in the PNP would point to a long and steady decaying of the PNP's core value structure and a crumbling of the principles for which it once stood - volunteerism, people participation and integrity.
While I maintain that PJ Patterson's tenure as prime minister was not a colossal failure, his leadership of the PNP, outside of the party's electoral victories, left much to be desired.
Obviously, the PNP misread its electoral successes. And, instead of strengthening its base, implementing succession planning, going back to the core of its early successes in political education and grass-roots politics, reinforcing the value of integrity, and training candidates and caretakers in good governance, the PNP squandered the opportunity, and developed an annoying arrogance that pushed it to the periphery.
I can tell you this much: there are many unhappy, embarrassed and disappointed comrades who are completely offended by the reluctance of the current leadership of the party to deal effectively and holistically with the situation at hand. Last Sunday, I delivered a speech in New York, focusing on the historical development of the PNP and its relationship with the media. At the end of the presentation, two members of the audience asked: (1) "Do you think the current leadership cadre is capable of rebuilding and advancing the party? (2) Do you think the demise of the PNP is due to the lack of legitimate groups and group structures?"
My "no-yes" answer never sat too well with some in the audience, who continue to harbour the view that the PNP is Mrs Simpson Miller and Mrs Simpson Miller the PNP. One hopes the PNP sees itself as bigger than the combined egos of its president, vice presidents, and chairman. The PNP can continue to turn up its nose at suggestions that it must, as a matter of urgency, address the leadership (collective) issue, because no amount of evasive action is going to eliminate the question of leadership unless the party has no intentions of preventing the concretisation of the Cold-War type divisions that now exist in the party.
Bluntly put (and there is no panic in my suggestion), I would support initiatives from the grass roots for the orderly retirement of the entire leadership cadre, which includes the current president and vice presidents, with the exception of Dr Wykeham McNeill, and for an equally seamless transition to a fresh group of young, talented and dedicated individuals. In fairness to the party, the installation of Peter Bunting and Luther Buchanan to the secretariat is a step in the right direction. However, a similar transition must continue throughout the party.
The party now faces a real crisis and the prospect of falling off into a deep political precipice. The crisis has now become endemic and with no visible crisis management strategy in place, the party is in a quandary. The truth is, although party operatives are very coy about certain internal matters, which are bound to generate stinging opprobrium, signs of a disorganised, demoralised, divided, financially broke and politically bruised party are everywhere. More than any time in its 70-year history, the PNP faces the mammoth tasks of purging itself as it seeks to restore respectability and recapture the support of a very sceptical and disappointed public. The sooner the party comes to grips with the urgency of these tasks, the better it will be going forward.
Some may ask: What crisis does the PNP face? Essentially, there are four kinds of organisational crises: sudden crises, such as fires; smouldering crises, problems or issues that start out small and could be fixed or averted if someone was paying attention or recognised the potential for trouble; a one-of-a-kind crisis, and perceptual crises. The crises facing the PNP are both smouldering and perceptual. It's less perceptual nowadays, the current imbroglio over the Cuban light bulb investigations and news that the prime minister has more scandals and criminal charges against former PNP officials is beginning to look like reality.
The PNP should, and still can put together a comprehensive crisis management strategy that prepares the party to manage the detritus from the past. This crisis management strategy will enable the party to plan for, respond to, and recover from the scandals that Mr Golding will throw its way.
It is no secret that the PNP and the media are at loggerheads; the party will never win against the media, however biased its coverage or treatment. Therefore, the party has to acknowledge that the media is the essential link between the party and the public. Therefore, it is vital to establish and maintain good, honest relationships with key media and journalists.Even when doubts abound, the PNP must still regard the press as its ally and use it without abusing it.
burnscg@aol.com
Chris Burns
Monday, April 14, 2008
The erosion of the People's National Party's impeccable reputation started shortly after it won the 11th general elections on December 9, 1989. At the conclusion of those elections, the PNP won 45 seats to the Jamaica Labour Party's 15 seats. The elections heralded the return of Michael Manley as prime minister of Jamaica. However, because of ill health, Mr Manley retired from representational politics at the end of March 1992.
An internal election was held; PJ Patterson won the presidency over Ms Portia Simpson and became Jamaica's 6th prime minister. The PNP went on to win three consecutive terms: 1993, 1997 and 2002. Mr Patterson retired in 2006, and after a long, abusive, and divisive internal election, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller emerged as the fourth and first woman president of the PNP, and as the seventh and first woman prime minister. Mrs Simpson Miller's tenure was short-lived, as the JLP cruised to victory in 2007, winning 32 seats to the PNP's 28 seats.
Since its electoral loss of September 2007, the PNP has been taking some batterings, mostly of its own making. Yet, any honest review of recent developments in the PNP would point to a long and steady decaying of the PNP's core value structure and a crumbling of the principles for which it once stood - volunteerism, people participation and integrity.
While I maintain that PJ Patterson's tenure as prime minister was not a colossal failure, his leadership of the PNP, outside of the party's electoral victories, left much to be desired.
Obviously, the PNP misread its electoral successes. And, instead of strengthening its base, implementing succession planning, going back to the core of its early successes in political education and grass-roots politics, reinforcing the value of integrity, and training candidates and caretakers in good governance, the PNP squandered the opportunity, and developed an annoying arrogance that pushed it to the periphery.
I can tell you this much: there are many unhappy, embarrassed and disappointed comrades who are completely offended by the reluctance of the current leadership of the party to deal effectively and holistically with the situation at hand. Last Sunday, I delivered a speech in New York, focusing on the historical development of the PNP and its relationship with the media. At the end of the presentation, two members of the audience asked: (1) "Do you think the current leadership cadre is capable of rebuilding and advancing the party? (2) Do you think the demise of the PNP is due to the lack of legitimate groups and group structures?"
My "no-yes" answer never sat too well with some in the audience, who continue to harbour the view that the PNP is Mrs Simpson Miller and Mrs Simpson Miller the PNP. One hopes the PNP sees itself as bigger than the combined egos of its president, vice presidents, and chairman. The PNP can continue to turn up its nose at suggestions that it must, as a matter of urgency, address the leadership (collective) issue, because no amount of evasive action is going to eliminate the question of leadership unless the party has no intentions of preventing the concretisation of the Cold-War type divisions that now exist in the party.
Bluntly put (and there is no panic in my suggestion), I would support initiatives from the grass roots for the orderly retirement of the entire leadership cadre, which includes the current president and vice presidents, with the exception of Dr Wykeham McNeill, and for an equally seamless transition to a fresh group of young, talented and dedicated individuals. In fairness to the party, the installation of Peter Bunting and Luther Buchanan to the secretariat is a step in the right direction. However, a similar transition must continue throughout the party.
The party now faces a real crisis and the prospect of falling off into a deep political precipice. The crisis has now become endemic and with no visible crisis management strategy in place, the party is in a quandary. The truth is, although party operatives are very coy about certain internal matters, which are bound to generate stinging opprobrium, signs of a disorganised, demoralised, divided, financially broke and politically bruised party are everywhere. More than any time in its 70-year history, the PNP faces the mammoth tasks of purging itself as it seeks to restore respectability and recapture the support of a very sceptical and disappointed public. The sooner the party comes to grips with the urgency of these tasks, the better it will be going forward.
Some may ask: What crisis does the PNP face? Essentially, there are four kinds of organisational crises: sudden crises, such as fires; smouldering crises, problems or issues that start out small and could be fixed or averted if someone was paying attention or recognised the potential for trouble; a one-of-a-kind crisis, and perceptual crises. The crises facing the PNP are both smouldering and perceptual. It's less perceptual nowadays, the current imbroglio over the Cuban light bulb investigations and news that the prime minister has more scandals and criminal charges against former PNP officials is beginning to look like reality.
The PNP should, and still can put together a comprehensive crisis management strategy that prepares the party to manage the detritus from the past. This crisis management strategy will enable the party to plan for, respond to, and recover from the scandals that Mr Golding will throw its way.
It is no secret that the PNP and the media are at loggerheads; the party will never win against the media, however biased its coverage or treatment. Therefore, the party has to acknowledge that the media is the essential link between the party and the public. Therefore, it is vital to establish and maintain good, honest relationships with key media and journalists.Even when doubts abound, the PNP must still regard the press as its ally and use it without abusing it.
burnscg@aol.com
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