Murders back up! JA back to normal!

[MissLondon]

Well done Portia!

[Time]

You tek us fi fool? Portia told the JLP to only show up with 25 votes when 31 was required and then told the JLP to reject her offer of 2 x 15 days extension and then she told the GG not to declare a new SOE immediatley as the old one expired?

[Don1]

tek time...she young an naive

mek har enjoy har time inna di limelight

[MissLondon]

You tek us fi fool? Portia told the JLP to only show up with 25 votes when 31 was required and then told the JLP to reject her offer of 2 x 15 days extension and then she told the GG not to declare a new SOE immediatley as the old one expired?

Why not agree to the 30 day extension? Too straight forward?
As for the missing MP's, their absence needs to be explained, but its not the Governments job alone to act in the interest of the country.

[MissLondon]

Anway Im sure those responsible can take heart that Jamaica is back to normal! 5 murders a day! Yay!

[Mosiah]

As for the missing MP's, their absence needs to be explained, but its not the Governments job alone to act in the interest of the country.

the way you are carrying on, it would seem the responsibility is primarily the opposition's.

sick!

[Sir X]

Who are those responsible , surely you jest when you point and wave your finger at the PNP......Jamaicans might act the fool but dem a nuh fool.

"a) Politics is always about power everywhere.
b) The JLP refusing to deal with the Dudus matter for many months was about retaining power.
c) The JLP being forced to deal with crime is about retaining power.
d) The JLP not marshalling all its people into Parliament for the majority to smear the PNP is about retaining power.
e) The JLP blaming the PNP for the crumbling the State of Emergency is about retaining power.
f) The JLP still having power to marshall all its majority in Parliament or a new State of Emergency is about power (I do not know what the crying is for).
g) The JLP, using its majority in Parliament to alienate the PNP, is all about power.
h) The JLP creating a state of warfare in Parliament since the elections is all about power.
i) The PNP using the one chance they have got in Parliament to GET BACK at the JLP by voting no, is all about power.
j) The PNP allowing for a 15-day extension is about power..."
It seems to me that my readers have read the signals coming from the 'JLP-PNP' cartel even better than I ever could. As a result, I need not say any more.

[MissLondon]

the way you are carrying on, it would seem the responsibility is primarily the opposition's.

sick!

No its a joint responsibility. The JLP MPs present voted in favour of the SOE, the PNP MPs abstained. Didn't even have the guts to vote against it. The two parties should have worked together for the greater good, but no, there were more important things to do .

[MissLondon]

When the PNP missed the way
KEN CHAPLIN

Tuesday, July 27, 2010



The Opposition People's National Party was caught napping on a matter of great and grave national importance when they abstained from voting in the House of Representatives on a motion to extend the State of Emergency. It is hard to believe, as some people have been saying, that the government set a trap. One would expect that the leaders of the PNP, reputedly the politically intellectual giants of Jamaica, would have seen the urgency for the extension, but its stand in opposing it can only be regarded as raw partisan politics. The PNP missed the way and the whole thing backfired.
The page one editorial in the Daily Observer of July 22 captured the mood of the people. "No one denies that crime has robbed us of many of the possibilities to be greater. As we cowered behind burglar bars that transformed our homes into virtual prisons, its stain on our international image brought us close to pariah status," the editorial said. It continues: "With murders climbing to 1,600 last year, Jamaican nationals staying away for fear of their own country, investors and tourists a mere trickle against the potential numbers, poverty flourished, as economic growth and development eluded us. That in turn fed the crime network in a vicious circle."

GOLDING... the lack of Opposition support for the extension of the State of Emergency has neither deterred his will nor the security forces' strategy to suppress crime
Under the Constitution, at least 31 of the 60 members of the House of Representatives would have to vote for the State of Emergency to be extended. The 25 government members present at the sitting of the House which considered the extension voted in favour of the measure. All 18 Opposition members present abstained, which killed the motion. Frankly, this writer did not expect so many members - 17 - would be absent having regard to the importance of the matter to the country's future and well-being of the people.The reason given by the Opposition for not supporting the motion was feeble. The commissioner of police and the chief of defence staff had recommended a 30-day extension of the State of Emergency. The proposal came from the security forces which is all the more reason why it should have been supported by the Opposition.
The Opposition said that it was prepared to allow for a nine-day extension until the end of July or 15 days which, if accepted, would see it lifted in time for Independence Day, August 6. But Emancipation Day, August 1, would be held under a State of Emergency.
The question being asked is: was a situation created where the support of the PNP Opposition became critical as was a bipartisan approach to fighting crime which had adversely affected the country's economic and social development for many years? Many civic leaders believed that the PNP Opposition played hard politics, for if crime, the biggest problem facing the country, was arrested, it would boost a second term for the Bruce Golding administration in 2012 when the next general elections are scheduled to be held. The PNP's position was untenable. Joining the government in a bipartisan approach in the extension of the State of Emergency which has been most successful would strengthen the assault on crime and increase the party's popularity.
The figures produced by the security forces showed that there was a significant decrease in crime, especially murders, since the State of Emergency was imposed on May 23. Crime declined by 49 per cent in the May to June period, resulting in 87 fewer murders and a 46 per cent decline in shootings. Other crimes also decreased.
As Golding explained, the rationale for the extension of the State of Emergency:
"The effort and measures that have been used to bring about these reductions are measures that must be sustained, at least for the immediate future. That process must continue because the security forces have made it clear that the nature of the operations that are being carried out would be severely hampered if there is curtailment."
One of the reasons for the success of the State of Emergency is that detainees can be held indefinitely without charges, which gives the security forces more time to investigate and the number of detainees are so many - more than 4000 - that it takes a lot of time to process them all. The only objection I have is that some of the detainees were held under inhuman conditions. Better accommodation should have been provided for them.
The lack of Opposition support for the extension of the State of Emergency neither deterred the prime minister's will nor the security forces' strategy to suppress crime. Golding's declaration that the battle against crime "can be won, must be won and will be won" reawakened hope in most people. Although they cannot indefinitely detain people, they will still have the power to carry out curfews, search premises and mount roadblocks. And within a day after the expiry of the State of Emergency the security forces were performing these operations.
The six anti-crime bills which were passed in Parliament and quickly signed by the governor general will provide additional strength to the security forces.
The Opposition's massive propaganda against Golding in the Christopher "Dudus"
Coke extradition and the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips affairs will likely be overshadowed by its State of Emergency dilemma. Golding, I must say, bungled in the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips affair for which he apologised profusely. It seems to me that the government is in a clear path with its passing of the International Monetary Fund first quarterly test, economic progress, appreciation of the Jamaican dollar and improvement in business and consumer confidence.
However, prices are moving up.

[Muadib]

Mi feel seh most ah dem were in China working on some deals at one convention.

I suspect they could not convince the Chinese to put things on hold till they got back.

Unnuh mussi tink seh is Bobby Pickersgill ah run tings.. course change.

It Takes Cash to Care and wi nuh scorn Yuan.

[Lazie]

You tek us fi fool? Portia told the JLP to only show up with 25 votes when 31 was required and then told the JLP to reject her offer of 2 x 15 days extension and then she told the GG not to declare a new SOE immediatley as the old one expired?

Stop the foolishness Time ... yuh have more sense than that. Samuda was in China from the week before, should the PM have told them to drop whatever they were doing and come back to extend the SoE? Then unuh accuse ppl of tekking unuh fi fool?

[Baddaz]

As Golding explained, the rationale for the extension of the State of Emergency:
"The effort and measures that have been used to bring about these reductions are measures that must be sustained, at least for the immediate future. That process must continue because the security forces have made it clear that the nature of the operations that are being carried out would be severely hampered if there is curtailment."

if the govt, led by goldious one felt so strongly about the extension of the state of emergency, why were the jlp mps absent from such a crucial vote...

this brucegoldious cannot be trusted... the government's attempt to pin the blame on the opposition for the non extension is disingenous...

the question is, 'who is in charge of leading the country and making decisions that are best for the security of the nation'...

this should not be about the pnp who do not have a majority... if the gov't genuinely felt the country needs the state of emergency, they can implement a soe at the very next parliamentary sitting...

it is the gov't that is playing politics with the lives of the jamaican people...

[Gamma]

baddaz...with all due respect "attempt to pin blame" that sounds disingenuous because at the end of the day....the opposition had an opportunity to extend it and did not!

the fact that so much effort is being spent by the opposition trying to rehabilitate themselves suggests to me that they know they effed up! if golding was playing politics they should have called his bluff...but i submit that the mindset is "NOT TO AGREE" so there you have it!

[Lazie]

if the govt, led by goldious one felt so strongly about the extension of the state of emergency, why were the jlp mps absent from such a crucial vote...

this brucegoldious cannot be trusted... the government's attempt to pin the blame on the opposition for the non extension is disingenous...

the question is, 'who is in charge of leading the country and making decisions that are best for the security of the nation'...

this should not be about the pnp who do not have a majority... if the gov't genuinely felt the country needs the state of emergency, they can implement a soe at the very next parliamentary sitting...

it is the gov't that is playing politics with the lives of the jamaican people...

so, should all the meetings being held overseas should have been stopped so the mps should return to vote on a matter than is affecting all Jamaicans? What about the jokers in the PNP who not working for their pay? They didn't even know if they wanted to vote yeah or nay.

The attempt to try and pin blame on the gov't instead of Portia and her pack of clowns is comical.

[Assasin]

The fact is the passing of the SOE should be an easy thing. I bet Golding miscalculate thinking the PNP would have supported it.

The PNP realise they made a big mistake because of the backlash. What get to me most is that they choose not to vote on it as they have been doing on any measure that they can't oppose but think the government will get some credit for it. Now it come back to bite them where it matter most. Base on all the polls is not only JLP a bawl fi the SOE but a lot of PNP too.

Did you hear Bunting that it is not the SOE that cause the drop in crime but the dismantling of the Shower posse?