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Retreat to surrender?
LLOYD B SMITH
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The ruling Jamaica Labour Party has embarked on a two-weekend retreat that has attracted much interest nationwide as this comes against the background of the recent Don Anderson polls which showed the Opposition People's National Party some 10 points ahead. Plagued by one scandal after another and a most debilitating trust deficit, the JLP will have to bunker down and come up with a new approach to governance if it is to regain much of the political capital it has squandered over the last three years that it has been in power.
Clearly, the party cannot retreat to surrender but must find a way to renew its commitments to the Jamaican electorate and to implement as much as possible the promises it made prior to the September 2007 general election. Indeed, if it cannot have as its mantra "promises made, promises kept" when next it faces the voters, then it will be hard-pressed to convince the Jamaican people that it deserves a second term.
It is not for me to tell the JLP what to do in order to improve its image and re-electability, but as one of my favourite lines from Desiderata states "and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story..." Let me hope for their sake that the JLP has been listening to the people and not just to well-paid consultants, highly placed party hacks and fanatical supporters who cannot see the forest from the trees or the big picture but are overwhelmed by narrow partisan concerns.
With the advent of high technology that has ushered in the Information Age, the average Jamaican is far more wise and aware of what is expected of a government and are no longer prepared to accept persistent mediocrity, deception and malfeasance. The JLP leadership ought to be sufficiently aware that Jamaicans have become very cynical about politics and politicians. To put it bluntly, they think that they are for the most part corrupt, cannot be trusted and are only seeking to be elected for their own ends.
In this vein, the JLP must be forcefully reminded by its advisers and well-wishers that the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips affair - which ultimately led to the Tivoli incursion in which some 79 lives were snuffed out - has reinforced in the minds of the general citizenry that there is an umbilical link between politics and organised crime that must be severed. Is the JLP committed to doing this and can its battered, bruised and bemused leader, Prime Minister Bruce Golding,
lead such a charge? Indeed, does he have the guts for it and is he prepared to suffer the attendant consequences of his own political future should he dare to be a Daniel, a man and not a mouse!
In the meantime, my advice to the JLP as it gets battle-ready to face the polls, both local government and general elections, is that it should first deal with the whole matter of truth. For the sad truth is that the people do not trust the JLP and they have more than enough reasons to do so, based on what has been unfolding so far with respect to the administration's handling of the nation's affairs. My humble suggestion is that the JLP should look within its ranks and identify someone with impeccable credibility to become its main spokesperson. Someone I would call the "truth teller". Information Minister Daryl Vaz
hardly fits that bill in that while he may have been seen as a performer in the Office of the Prime Minister, his close association with the "Bruce on the loose" syndrome has put a serious dent in his credibility armour.
Another stigma that the JLP must attack is the perception that it is a "brown man" party. Whenever I raise this matter, I am pilloried by certain individuals who are yet to come to terms with the fact that classism and racism are still embedded in the Jamaican society. Notwithstanding the "cake soap" mentality that now exists, which means one has to bleach in order to reach, the hard truth is that the majority of Jamaicans are black and so any political organisation that wishes to have a sustained broad appeal to the masses must reflect this. If there is to be any Cabinet reshuffle, therefore, it would be prudent for the JLP to ensure that there is a good dose of melanin 
(Roast Breadfruit Time!) in the mix, a suggestion I am sure will find much favour with State Minister Bobby Montague.
The JLP must also deal with the perception, especially among the working class, that it is uncaring and arrogant. Quite frankly, the tone of this regime has been often too condescending, abrasive, in-your-face and outright rude. One suspects that this may well be a defence mechanism, for the government has had to grapple with some tough decisions which bring much pain and displacement. After all, tough decisions demand that one must be tough, even ruthless, sometimes. However, like a good parent, government must be firm but kind.
Meanwhile, it is the considered view of many concerned citizens that more effort needs to be made on the part of the government to build consensus
around such critical issues as crime, the economy, education and constitutional reform. A government that consults is not necessarily a weak government but may be displaying a good amount of testicular fortitude as it tackles the nation's problems of governance. To put it bluntly, it's either co-existence or no existence. No one party can do it alone if Jamaica is to become a peaceful and prosperous developing country. To ignore, befuddle or disrespect the Opposition or civil society is to destroy not to build.
Finally, the JLP must be firm in stemming the current seemingly insatiable appetite of some of its well-placed operatives whose snouts are in the public trough, even while the foot soldiers are left to suck salt out of a wooden spoon and the G2K's president, Delano Seivwright, espouses a kind of "Pickersgillian Committee" approach to the sensitive matter of appointing or retaining civil servants. The JLP must put Jamaica first if it hopes to be taken seriously and not be seen as just another warring tribe obsessed with scarce benefits and spoils.
LLOYD B SMITH
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The ruling Jamaica Labour Party has embarked on a two-weekend retreat that has attracted much interest nationwide as this comes against the background of the recent Don Anderson polls which showed the Opposition People's National Party some 10 points ahead. Plagued by one scandal after another and a most debilitating trust deficit, the JLP will have to bunker down and come up with a new approach to governance if it is to regain much of the political capital it has squandered over the last three years that it has been in power.
Clearly, the party cannot retreat to surrender but must find a way to renew its commitments to the Jamaican electorate and to implement as much as possible the promises it made prior to the September 2007 general election. Indeed, if it cannot have as its mantra "promises made, promises kept" when next it faces the voters, then it will be hard-pressed to convince the Jamaican people that it deserves a second term.
It is not for me to tell the JLP what to do in order to improve its image and re-electability, but as one of my favourite lines from Desiderata states "and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story..." Let me hope for their sake that the JLP has been listening to the people and not just to well-paid consultants, highly placed party hacks and fanatical supporters who cannot see the forest from the trees or the big picture but are overwhelmed by narrow partisan concerns.
With the advent of high technology that has ushered in the Information Age, the average Jamaican is far more wise and aware of what is expected of a government and are no longer prepared to accept persistent mediocrity, deception and malfeasance. The JLP leadership ought to be sufficiently aware that Jamaicans have become very cynical about politics and politicians. To put it bluntly, they think that they are for the most part corrupt, cannot be trusted and are only seeking to be elected for their own ends.
In this vein, the JLP must be forcefully reminded by its advisers and well-wishers that the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips affair - which ultimately led to the Tivoli incursion in which some 79 lives were snuffed out - has reinforced in the minds of the general citizenry that there is an umbilical link between politics and organised crime that must be severed. Is the JLP committed to doing this and can its battered, bruised and bemused leader, Prime Minister Bruce Golding,
lead such a charge? Indeed, does he have the guts for it and is he prepared to suffer the attendant consequences of his own political future should he dare to be a Daniel, a man and not a mouse! In the meantime, my advice to the JLP as it gets battle-ready to face the polls, both local government and general elections, is that it should first deal with the whole matter of truth. For the sad truth is that the people do not trust the JLP
and they have more than enough reasons to do so, based on what has been unfolding so far with respect to the administration's handling of the nation's affairs. My humble suggestion is that the JLP should look within its ranks and identify someone with impeccable credibility to become its main spokesperson. Someone I would call the "truth teller". Information Minister Daryl Vaz hardly fits that bill in that while he may have been seen as a performer in the Office of the Prime Minister, his close association with the "Bruce on the loose" syndrome has put a serious dent in his credibility armour.Another stigma that the JLP must attack is the perception that it is a "brown man" party.
Whenever I raise this matter, I am pilloried by certain individuals who are yet to come to terms with the fact that classism and racism are still embedded in the Jamaican society. Notwithstanding the "cake soap" mentality that now exists, which means one has to bleach in order to reach, the hard truth is that the majority of Jamaicans are black and so any political organisation that wishes to have a sustained broad appeal to the masses must reflect this. If there is to be any Cabinet reshuffle, therefore, it would be prudent for the JLP to ensure that there is a good dose of melanin (Roast Breadfruit Time!) in the mix, a suggestion I am sure will find much favour with State Minister Bobby Montague.The JLP must also deal with the perception, especially among the working class, that it is uncaring and arrogant. Quite frankly, the tone of this regime has been often too condescending, abrasive, in-your-face and outright rude. One suspects that this may well be a defence mechanism, for the government has had to grapple with some tough decisions which bring much pain and displacement. After all, tough decisions demand that one must be tough, even ruthless, sometimes. However, like a good parent, government must be firm but kind.
Meanwhile, it is the considered view of many concerned citizens that more effort needs to be made on the part of the government to build consensus
around such critical issues as crime, the economy, education and constitutional reform. A government that consults is not necessarily a weak government but may be displaying a good amount of testicular fortitude as it tackles the nation's problems of governance. To put it bluntly, it's either co-existence or no existence. No one party can do it alone if Jamaica is to become a peaceful and prosperous developing country. To ignore, befuddle or disrespect the Opposition or civil society is to destroy not to build. Finally, the JLP must be firm in stemming the current seemingly insatiable appetite of some of its well-placed operatives whose snouts are in the public trough,
even while the foot soldiers are left to suck salt out of a wooden spoon and the G2K's president, Delano Seivwright, espouses a kind of "Pickersgillian Committee" approach to the sensitive matter of appointing or retaining civil servants. The JLP must put Jamaica first if it hopes to be taken seriously and not be seen as just another warring tribe obsessed with scarce benefits and spoils.
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