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MARK WIGNALL
Thursday, October 02, 2008
In the 13-month period from August 2007 to September 2008, it seems that the best we have seen of the JLP is in that one-month period before it was elected.
Then, it seemed to have all the answers, taking the stance of all Opposition parties worldwide. Led by "man-a-yaad" Audley Shaw, all of the various spokespersons were audibly on fire, taking the cue from Opposition leader Bruce Golding whose main objective, once he took government power would be "jobs, jobs and more jobs".
Many "thinking" Jamaicans were prepared to give the JLP breathing space because it was common knowledge that it came to office just as oil prices began to move upwards, with seemingly no end in sight. The poor began to be savaged by steep increases in grain-based, basic food items as demand for these by emerging economies sent prices on an upward spiral while the pay packets of the poorest among us remained static.
"I believe with every fibre in my body that this country can make a change," said Bruce Golding in his April 2007 budget presentation. He had every right to say that, if he was embarking on a mission that was more than just leading a political party to power, just so that it could continue on the path of the previous government.
With the recent cementing into PNP power of Portia Simpson Miller, there is a real chance that this JLP government will hold one term only, although it is still early days yet. Quite apart from the crass use of money by both sides in the PNP presidential race, one ready theory of Jamaican politics emerges. The poor Jamaican voter expects no great economic change to his life when he votes PNP or JLP. So, in the end, he votes for whoever he is most comfortable having around.
It seems to me that this was a real factor in the PNP presidential race when delegates, most of whom are unemployed, voted to retain Portia Simpson Miller as president. So far, in the JLP government, one does not get the sense that there has been an increase in those who have embraced Bruce Golding in similar light, if ever he was seen as such a person.
Many years ago, political activist and social worker, Earl Spencer (where is he now?) told me that Jamaican poor people accepted their status with a certain degree of resignation. "There would always be struggle to find the school money, the lunch money, the dinner on Sundays," he said. "What the poor could always do without was the heavy hand of state violence (police violence) on them. It is somewhere in the abandonment of them by both political parties, coupled with sending out the guns on
them which brought about their alienation
and resorting to community govern-ment ('donmanship')."
With nothing happening for the poor and the powerless in Jamaica, the very least that they could hope for was that the government would protect them from the scum parading as human beings in the society. Monsters who kill and maim children.
It is impossible for the prime minister to stay the hand and the sick mind of a man who is intent on ravishing and murdering a child, 57 of whom have been killed since the beginning of the year!
What the prime minister ought to do is utilise his leadership to convince opposition MPs to side with him in passing through the House all the necessary legislation to deal with these killers. Murderers need to know that they will
suffer death at the hands of the state, but
more important, they need to know that they will be caught.
There is little that this government can do to convince the man and the woman at street level that the JLP has their interests at heart. Have government ministers been walking the streets? Are they listening to anyone but their
robotic supporters?
If they cannot allow the people to have an extra slice of bread or, dare I say it, cake, how about convincing the poorer among us that the least the government can do is guard the gate as they sleep? And if the government cannot do that, what reason do we have to continue to support them?
On Tuesday morning I heard Beverley Manley interviewing some of the younger persons on the PNP's Council of Spokespersons, in essence, the PNP's shadow cabinet. The talk was impressive especially the brief bits from Mark Golding and Lisa Hanna. But even as they spoke I could not help but say to myself, "I have heard it all before, in
the PNP, in the JLP. Talk, talk, talk."
We have never been short of bright people seeking the political spotlights. But will someone, anyone, please give me an example of one, just one person who entered politics at a young age and made a real contribution to the lives of our people? It seems that at some stage, even if the objectives were pure at the outset, they eventually become derailed and lead to feeding from the trough and looking after self first, second and third.
The young Turks in the JLP should probably have been thrown into the deep water of full ministries, because it is quite likely that as soon as they have developed the experience necessary to run such ministries confidently, the JLP will be out on its rear end and this country will be facing a despot with enough reasons (in her mind) to run roughshod over those who did not support her.
But, the very fact that I find myself listening eagerly to what the younger people on the PNP Spokespersons Council are saying tells me that the little I am hearing from the JLP is dreary, run-of-the-mill stuff from people who have grown tired in only one year.
Worse, the prime minister, who will never be readily loved as Simpson Miller, does not seem to be convinced that his political life is dependent on his governmental performance.
He does not seem to be aware that his role, like the role of all leaders, is the end result of a wave that is bigger than anything he has ever encountered. Golding encountered such a wave in 1995. He was caught up in another in September 2007.
Prime Minister Golding is a bright man who is being outpaced, out-thought and skilfully undermined by a third-rater. Makes you think, doesn't it?
- observemark@gmail.com
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...OM_THE_JLP.asp
Thursday, October 02, 2008
In the 13-month period from August 2007 to September 2008, it seems that the best we have seen of the JLP is in that one-month period before it was elected.
Then, it seemed to have all the answers, taking the stance of all Opposition parties worldwide. Led by "man-a-yaad" Audley Shaw, all of the various spokespersons were audibly on fire, taking the cue from Opposition leader Bruce Golding whose main objective, once he took government power would be "jobs, jobs and more jobs".
Many "thinking" Jamaicans were prepared to give the JLP breathing space because it was common knowledge that it came to office just as oil prices began to move upwards, with seemingly no end in sight. The poor began to be savaged by steep increases in grain-based, basic food items as demand for these by emerging economies sent prices on an upward spiral while the pay packets of the poorest among us remained static.
"I believe with every fibre in my body that this country can make a change," said Bruce Golding in his April 2007 budget presentation. He had every right to say that, if he was embarking on a mission that was more than just leading a political party to power, just so that it could continue on the path of the previous government.
With the recent cementing into PNP power of Portia Simpson Miller, there is a real chance that this JLP government will hold one term only, although it is still early days yet. Quite apart from the crass use of money by both sides in the PNP presidential race, one ready theory of Jamaican politics emerges. The poor Jamaican voter expects no great economic change to his life when he votes PNP or JLP. So, in the end, he votes for whoever he is most comfortable having around.
It seems to me that this was a real factor in the PNP presidential race when delegates, most of whom are unemployed, voted to retain Portia Simpson Miller as president. So far, in the JLP government, one does not get the sense that there has been an increase in those who have embraced Bruce Golding in similar light, if ever he was seen as such a person.
Many years ago, political activist and social worker, Earl Spencer (where is he now?) told me that Jamaican poor people accepted their status with a certain degree of resignation. "There would always be struggle to find the school money, the lunch money, the dinner on Sundays," he said. "What the poor could always do without was the heavy hand of state violence (police violence) on them. It is somewhere in the abandonment of them by both political parties, coupled with sending out the guns on
them which brought about their alienation
and resorting to community govern-ment ('donmanship')."
With nothing happening for the poor and the powerless in Jamaica, the very least that they could hope for was that the government would protect them from the scum parading as human beings in the society. Monsters who kill and maim children.
It is impossible for the prime minister to stay the hand and the sick mind of a man who is intent on ravishing and murdering a child, 57 of whom have been killed since the beginning of the year!
What the prime minister ought to do is utilise his leadership to convince opposition MPs to side with him in passing through the House all the necessary legislation to deal with these killers. Murderers need to know that they will
suffer death at the hands of the state, but
more important, they need to know that they will be caught.
There is little that this government can do to convince the man and the woman at street level that the JLP has their interests at heart. Have government ministers been walking the streets? Are they listening to anyone but their
robotic supporters?
If they cannot allow the people to have an extra slice of bread or, dare I say it, cake, how about convincing the poorer among us that the least the government can do is guard the gate as they sleep? And if the government cannot do that, what reason do we have to continue to support them?
On Tuesday morning I heard Beverley Manley interviewing some of the younger persons on the PNP's Council of Spokespersons, in essence, the PNP's shadow cabinet. The talk was impressive especially the brief bits from Mark Golding and Lisa Hanna. But even as they spoke I could not help but say to myself, "I have heard it all before, in
the PNP, in the JLP. Talk, talk, talk."
We have never been short of bright people seeking the political spotlights. But will someone, anyone, please give me an example of one, just one person who entered politics at a young age and made a real contribution to the lives of our people? It seems that at some stage, even if the objectives were pure at the outset, they eventually become derailed and lead to feeding from the trough and looking after self first, second and third.
The young Turks in the JLP should probably have been thrown into the deep water of full ministries, because it is quite likely that as soon as they have developed the experience necessary to run such ministries confidently, the JLP will be out on its rear end and this country will be facing a despot with enough reasons (in her mind) to run roughshod over those who did not support her.
But, the very fact that I find myself listening eagerly to what the younger people on the PNP Spokespersons Council are saying tells me that the little I am hearing from the JLP is dreary, run-of-the-mill stuff from people who have grown tired in only one year.
Worse, the prime minister, who will never be readily loved as Simpson Miller, does not seem to be convinced that his political life is dependent on his governmental performance.
He does not seem to be aware that his role, like the role of all leaders, is the end result of a wave that is bigger than anything he has ever encountered. Golding encountered such a wave in 1995. He was caught up in another in September 2007.
Prime Minister Golding is a bright man who is being outpaced, out-thought and skilfully undermined by a third-rater. Makes you think, doesn't it?
- observemark@gmail.com
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...OM_THE_JLP.asp
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