A deadly political consensus

[Karl]

A deadly political consensus
published: Sunday | November 19, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>

Dawn Ritch, Columnist

The country has yet to understand the parlous state in which she finds herself.

<SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Jamaica</SPAN> has had the People's National Party (PNP) Government for 17 years, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Opposition for the duration.

How did it all last so long, this comfortable <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">accommodation</SPAN> between the two major political parties which has held the country in thrall? This was the politics of consensus in the most deadly form, the politics of perpetuating oneself in power.

Too much intellectualism

I'm convinced that there has been too much intellectualism and mutual masturbation in the House of Representatives. This is the main reason for the island's <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">downfall</SPAN>. The representatives of the two sides of the House have sat there for the past 17 years accommodating each other in the most shameless fashion.

Every time the Opposition objected to something or the public did so, a committee was formed by the former Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson. This led to reports being written and filed in the House, new statutory bodies formed and funded, and reams of new <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink3 &#111;nmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,3); style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" &#111;nclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,3); &#111;nmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,3); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061119/cleisure/cleisure4.html#" target=_new><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">legi

[Lazie]

RE: A deadly political consensus

Dawn Rich sounds more and more like Mr. Seaga's sister. They both seem to think that Mr. Seaga should have remained as leader of the JLP until his time on earth was up.

I wonder how long people gonna keep bringing up him leaving the JLP andforming the NDM? Winston Churchill had changed parties before becoming a world reknown leader. The NDM wasn't giventhe time of day, even though they had some excellent ideas, the jokers still voted for an inept gov't. Why shouldn't Bruce return to the JLP? Norman Horne returned to the PNP and he isn't seen as a villian. Time people start focusing on the issues and get over the pettiness. Right Balla?

Yet again people continue proving themselves to be unthinking people. Mr. Seaga retired from politics, creating a vacancy in West Kingston, 'the mother of all garrison'. Now people have a problem with Bruce representing the people of West Kingston. I'm curious, aren't they Jamaicans too? Aren't they in need of political representation too? Unless I missed something, which other seat had a vacancy at the time?