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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>It cannot be business as usual</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Christopher Burns
Monday, January 08, 2007
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=70 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Christopher Burns</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Although he did not deliver his Christmas message from Jamaica House as he promised, Opposition leader Bruce Golding started the new year the same way he ended the old, by maintaining his burning desire for an election while continuing to look and sound statesmanlike. On a lighter note, however, I rather liked and found interesting his quotation of Albert Einstein: "You can't do the same thing over and over, and expect different results." One can understand, therefore, why I found it acceptable that Golding did not use his New Year's Message to make another prediction; this time that he will be delivering his Ash Wednesday message from Jamaica House. <P class=StoryText align=justify>It is ironic that while Mr Golding called for the immediate abandonment of the "business as usual" governance culture, he prefaced his New Year's Message by evoking the "same ole, same ole" exploitative political rhetoric deliberately to create the impression of things falling apart; to the extent that the centre can no longer hold and mere anarchy is loosed upon the land. Perhaps he was being prophetic, because the murder madness has not abated since the start of the new year, and he was not wilfully resurrecting the ghost of WB Yeats, but anticipating the arrival of Chinua Achebe, author of the famous book, Things Fall Apart.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Whatever his motives, Golding's rhetoric made perfect a leader who, despite everything else he says, seems more fixated to the convenience of continuity and the attainment of power than to the commitment to change. This is a bit sad for me, because in his address to the 63rd annual conference of his party, Bruce appeared more as an agent of change and less as a curator of the very kind of politics that has held us back for far too long. While his call for the abandonment of the "business as usual" culture of governance deserves high praise, his attempts to convert the malaria outbreak into a political issue along with the concomitant dedication to squeeze every ounce of political juice out of it, instead of using the sphere of influence of his office to get his constituents fully on board and to encourage the work of the medical professionals, who have been doing an excellent job, represents the staunchest desire to maintain the kinship with the very system he says he abhors. Talk about paradoxes!<P class=StoryText align=justify>It is within this context, therefore, that it would suit Mr Golding to accept and act upon his own counsel by beginning to lead the process to end the business as usual culture of governance and to start with true bi-partisanship. A bi-partisanship that could lead to the enactment of several pieces of legislation including the Charter of Rights, Campaign Finance Reforms and a host of other very important bills that are currently stalled in Parliament, because of divisive partisan politics.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mr Golding should know that Albert Einstein also said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Consequently, it is necessary for our leaders to work, through the development of social capital, to reduce the radius of distrust that permeates throughout the entire society that serves no other purpose than to divide. There is hardly any useful purpose in his continuing demand for election because, barring any cataclysmic events, general elections will be h
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Christopher Burns
Monday, January 08, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=70 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Christopher Burns</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Although he did not deliver his Christmas message from Jamaica House as he promised, Opposition leader Bruce Golding started the new year the same way he ended the old, by maintaining his burning desire for an election while continuing to look and sound statesmanlike. On a lighter note, however, I rather liked and found interesting his quotation of Albert Einstein: "You can't do the same thing over and over, and expect different results." One can understand, therefore, why I found it acceptable that Golding did not use his New Year's Message to make another prediction; this time that he will be delivering his Ash Wednesday message from Jamaica House. <P class=StoryText align=justify>It is ironic that while Mr Golding called for the immediate abandonment of the "business as usual" governance culture, he prefaced his New Year's Message by evoking the "same ole, same ole" exploitative political rhetoric deliberately to create the impression of things falling apart; to the extent that the centre can no longer hold and mere anarchy is loosed upon the land. Perhaps he was being prophetic, because the murder madness has not abated since the start of the new year, and he was not wilfully resurrecting the ghost of WB Yeats, but anticipating the arrival of Chinua Achebe, author of the famous book, Things Fall Apart.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Whatever his motives, Golding's rhetoric made perfect a leader who, despite everything else he says, seems more fixated to the convenience of continuity and the attainment of power than to the commitment to change. This is a bit sad for me, because in his address to the 63rd annual conference of his party, Bruce appeared more as an agent of change and less as a curator of the very kind of politics that has held us back for far too long. While his call for the abandonment of the "business as usual" culture of governance deserves high praise, his attempts to convert the malaria outbreak into a political issue along with the concomitant dedication to squeeze every ounce of political juice out of it, instead of using the sphere of influence of his office to get his constituents fully on board and to encourage the work of the medical professionals, who have been doing an excellent job, represents the staunchest desire to maintain the kinship with the very system he says he abhors. Talk about paradoxes!<P class=StoryText align=justify>It is within this context, therefore, that it would suit Mr Golding to accept and act upon his own counsel by beginning to lead the process to end the business as usual culture of governance and to start with true bi-partisanship. A bi-partisanship that could lead to the enactment of several pieces of legislation including the Charter of Rights, Campaign Finance Reforms and a host of other very important bills that are currently stalled in Parliament, because of divisive partisan politics.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mr Golding should know that Albert Einstein also said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Consequently, it is necessary for our leaders to work, through the development of social capital, to reduce the radius of distrust that permeates throughout the entire society that serves no other purpose than to divide. There is hardly any useful purpose in his continuing demand for election because, barring any cataclysmic events, general elections will be h