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The road to the next election win
WIGNALL’S WORLD
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, June 26, 2011
THE extent to which likely voters at the next elections have bought into the idea that the JLP administration acted corruptly in the Dudus extradition/Manatt engagement, but that corruption is an essential if unwanted element of politics and that the Opposition PNP has no cleaner state in this regard, is likely to affect the JLP only marginally.
But there's a caveat.
PHILLIPS… the move to place him in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies’ performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007
CLINTON… I look back now and what Jamaica has accomplished in financial and economic terms is very impressive and commendable
Buju Banton (left foreground) with his lawyers outside the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida during his retrial in February this year.
PHILLIPS… the move to place him in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies’ performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007
#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/3
If Jamaicans were truly issues voters, both the JLP and the PNP would have enjoyed only single terms since Independence. If we examine voters' major concerns in that period, they have been, first, housing, then in later years, unemployment and youth idleness, crime, poor infrastructure — especially roads — the economy, teen pregnancy, poor education and poverty.
Most of those critical items never change in one term, so voters usually go on a leap of faith to the point where one party, the PNP, went a third term and beyond in 1997. The caveat I speak of is the possibility that some voters, especially among the middle class who have consistently seen 'crime' as a pressing concern, may make a link between that concern and what may be perceived (coming out of the Manatt Enquiry) as an uncomfortable closeness between the JLP and organised criminality.
But an irony slips in, in that many of those very voters, even though exposed to the possibility of being swayed by the revelations of the JLP's dirty linen, may conclude that the PNP is similarly afflicted, if not similarly bared for all to see.
The end result may be as indicated in a recent poll that Manatt may not feature much in voters' judgement at the next elections. If that holds, it will not be very good news for the PNP which has, to date, not advanced a single compelling cause as to why that party would be deserving of a win the next time out.
Judgement on the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter may have made for much buzz among the 'thinking' class, whoever they are but, to the extent that traditional voters have concluded that the JLP's performance on the economy and crime is a work in progress, a win vote for the JLP at the next elections is not as far-fetched as some of us would like to believe.
The PNP knows that any manoeuvrability and change it may wish to make on the economic directions of this country are firmly tied into the dictates of the IMF agreement and our lending partners in the European Union and the United States. Coming out of WikiLeaks, it would appear that those players would not want to see a PNP leadership where the caprice of populism is chosen over a hard-nosed approach to economic management.
It is my belief that although no significant shadow has been cast on the recent change to the PNP's shadow cabinet, the move to place Dr Peter Phillips in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies' performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007.
The fact is, the saving grace for the JLP administration is that overall, its performance in the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter has thankfully not been transmitted to other areas under its mandate, especially the economy. It will still have to begin the 'rightsizing' of the public service and that will not earn it any voting credits.
At the same time, with the US economy not bouncing back as fast as we would have liked and significant sections of European capitals on tenterhooks as it relates to their economies, the local absorption rates of our labour pool are severely reduced as the more educated and trained Jamaicans who would normally flee our shores to seek a better life may find the going abroad much rougher than usual.
The JLP's mantra of 'jobs, jobs, jobs,' was nothing novel to a political party. Those jobs have not been delivered and, if the politicians would only tell us the truth, no 'jobs, jobs, jobs' objective can be met in under three terms, unless the global economy was in a shape to yield us a mountain of investments in the space of say, five years.
As it is in Jamaica, as much as we tout the need for investments, outside of tourism, it is an eternal hassle and humbug to get anything moving in this country. At every level of the bureaucracy there is a desk where sits a village tyrant. He is THE boss and there are many desks in the long chain of discordance.
The real problem in this country, as many know, is the large pool of uneducated, untrained labour. With the vast majority of the best and brightest leaving Jamaica each year, it seems that the profile of the typical Jamaican person available for work has not changed much in 25 years.
He or she has little formal training, no certification and, even if a man is a skilled plumber or carpenter, it is quite likely that the only work available to him is to cut grass for seven days in each month. The real complement of workers under any 'jobs, jobs, jobs' objective would be, in addition to those involved in the placement of physical infrastructure on the ground, trained artisans, technicians, engineers, accountants, etc. For now the present administration has not made any dent in changing the profile of the economy which, over the last 25 years, has essentially been one which favours those who are skilled in hustling, scuffling, lifting boxes and cutting grass at the cemetery.
The PNP's trek to the next elections? Uphill
What will the Opposition PNP do if memories of Dudus and Manatt fade as elections approach?
The PNP may find itself like the prosecution in a murder trial. The defendant JLP knows that it is up to the prosecution to prove its case beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt. If the jurors -- the voters -- believe that a murder may have taken place but that the prosecution has not mounted an airtight case to pin it on the JLP, the PNP runs the risk of seeing the JLP walk free, all the way to the next elections.
The polls are unlikely to favour the JLP at this time but as the election machinery cranks up in both parties, I am prepared right now to give the edge to the ruling JLP. I will even use myself as an example.
Last time out, although I did not vote, I would have voted for the JLP. As much as I have been incensed at the JLP's handling of the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter, at this time I have seen nothing in the PNP to bring me to place a vote for it at the next elections.
Just to recap, having notionally supported the PNP in 1972, the first vote I made in 1976 was for the PNP. In 1980, 1986 (local), 1989, I voted JLP. In 1993, 1997 and 2002, I voted PNP.
For the PNP to get my vote, it would need to demonstrate to me that the leadership appreciates the changed dynamics in global politics from the last 20-year period to now. To me that has not yet unfolded. With Holness, Tufton, Vaz and Montague representing younger blood, if not fresher ideas, the JLP is still a party of old men.
For the PNP to get my vote to remove the incumbent JLP, it would have to show me much fresher faces. Lisa Hanna is a standout in the PNP, but what is AJ Nicholson doing in the PNP's shadow cabinet? A likely minister of pensionable affairs? What about Roger Clarke? Minister of agricultural antiquity?
In the pages of this newspaper I have allowed myself the expression of disappointment and even anger at what I saw as the weak leadership of Golding. This has been especially at the junctures where he was called on to make critical judgements. That said, he has apparently not fallen asleep on other important areas of managing the economy in difficult times and I am even prepared to forgive his early missteps.
I am forced to do so because I have not seen any appreciable counter to him in the leadership of the PNP. With an IMF engagement and, although US secretaries of state tend to use very diplomatic language whenever they are on friendly foreign soil, it cannot help the PNP's cause when Hillary Clinton said recently, "I look back now and what Jamaica has accomplished in financial and economic terms is very impressive and commendable."
That, as far as I am concerned, is indicative of a Government (read JLP) endorsement by the giant to the north of us.
Rev Paul Lewis must never preach here again
When I was a child and was forced to go to church and Sunday School, one of the high points used to be the visit of a foreign preacher.
First, he had a foreign accent, and to many that had to mean that he was a superior person if not preacher. The turnout would be to capacity whenever say, an American arrived. When Billy Graham visited in the late 1950s and preached at Knutsford Park race track, Jamaica went crazy.
While I am not accusing Rev Paul Lewis — who was recently freed of sexual assault charges (essentially statutory rape because the girl was below the age of consent which is 16) — of selling snake oil, a large part of what 'sweet mouth' preachers do is sell the impossible, that is, on top of trinkets and holy oil and pieces of wood from 'the holy land'.
It's quite a lucrative business.
In light of controversy surrounding his acquittal and reports that his DNA matched the DNA of semen found on the girl's underwear, in the minds of many Jamaicans, 'something funny' took place and Rev Lewis has been made persona non grata by the general population.
One reader wrote me the following, "I am a former police officer. In 2001, I assisted in the arresting of a man who was wanted for an offence of rape. In fact, I went overboard to apprehend that rapist. I was not the investigating officer but eventually I supervised the young woman police officer who had been collecting the statements. Listening to her ordeal I decided that I would make it a point of duty to bring this "criminal" to book.
"To cut a long story short, one day I was driving my car with my daughter in it, she would have been 10 at the time. I spotted the car (the victim had written down the licence number on the back of her hand) the suspected rapist was driving and followed it. When the man exited the car I realised it was someone whom I knew before. In fact, he drove a church bus and had taken my daughter to and from church the previous night!
"I called in assistance and he was arrested and subsequently pointed out on an ID parade. The long and short is I was offered $200,000 to assist this culprit to "beat the case". It was someone whom I had considered a "good friend" of mine who made the offer. The language I used to describe him and the offer was not so decent.
"Suffice it to say, the case went on to trial and the rapist was acquitted. Based on my investigation afterwards, envelopes were passed on to at least three members of the jury by a family member of the accused during the lunch break the second day into the trial. I will say no more."
Too many men of the cloth pretend to their 'flock' that their sexuality doesn't exist. For this reason, the normal controls that a reasonably well-adjusted man would make in the face of torrid sexual temptation are not applied by the pastor, preacher or paedophile priest because, as far as they are concerned, they are outfitted in the 'armour of God', where all sins will be forgiven.
In the past, because I had close associations with residents living in economically deprived situations, there have been instances where mothers have 'offered' me their daughters. First, they do it because, in their minds, their daughters will soon get pregnant for 'some wutliss bwoy' and, in the event of a pregnancy, they would prefer if a man who affects class, decency and economic clout is the father. In the interim, of course, there is always the unexpressed hope that there will be a regular flow of money to the household.
The surprise is that my rejection of such offers is usually met with states of confusion as if I must be mad to refuse. A man is a man whether he pounds from the pulpit or pastes dancehall signs on a post for a living. He will be tempted and there are many instances where he can safely yield to such temptation, ideally between himself and his wife/woman or, at the very least, between himself and a woman of legal age.
You have our sympathies, Buju
HAVING been sentenced to 10 years in prison, if we are pragmatic in our assessments of the case and the trial, we must admit that in the circumstances, it could have been worse.
I didn't particularly like Buju's music, but that only made me the odd one out. Once evidence was unearthed to show Buju visiting that warehouse and using a knife to taste cocaine from a packet of the illicit stuff, I saw it as curtains for him. No lawyerly skills could work for him them.
Were I a member of the jury, I would have been thinking, 'Why did he taste it? Does he know good coke from bad coke? Was tasting it an attempt to ensure that the product was authentic? And if the answer was in the affirmative, should I not believe that he was carrying out an act that he had formerly carried out before?'
Ten years is, in that instance, not so bad. Maybe he can get out early on good behaviour and, whatever happens, he can start over again. The sad part is that the real money for Jamaican pop entertainers is on the touring circuit and Buju will not be able to take advantage of the lucrative US market.
But, all is not lost and, who knows, there may be a number of lessons to learn. There is life after prison. He will still be able to bounce back.
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1QOQE7i2e
WIGNALL’S WORLD
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, June 26, 2011
THE extent to which likely voters at the next elections have bought into the idea that the JLP administration acted corruptly in the Dudus extradition/Manatt engagement, but that corruption is an essential if unwanted element of politics and that the Opposition PNP has no cleaner state in this regard, is likely to affect the JLP only marginally.
But there's a caveat.
PHILLIPS… the move to place him in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies’ performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007
CLINTON… I look back now and what Jamaica has accomplished in financial and economic terms is very impressive and commendable
Buju Banton (left foreground) with his lawyers outside the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida during his retrial in February this year.
PHILLIPS… the move to place him in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies’ performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/3 If Jamaicans were truly issues voters, both the JLP and the PNP would have enjoyed only single terms since Independence. If we examine voters' major concerns in that period, they have been, first, housing, then in later years, unemployment and youth idleness, crime, poor infrastructure — especially roads — the economy, teen pregnancy, poor education and poverty.
Most of those critical items never change in one term, so voters usually go on a leap of faith to the point where one party, the PNP, went a third term and beyond in 1997. The caveat I speak of is the possibility that some voters, especially among the middle class who have consistently seen 'crime' as a pressing concern, may make a link between that concern and what may be perceived (coming out of the Manatt Enquiry) as an uncomfortable closeness between the JLP and organised criminality.
But an irony slips in, in that many of those very voters, even though exposed to the possibility of being swayed by the revelations of the JLP's dirty linen, may conclude that the PNP is similarly afflicted, if not similarly bared for all to see.
The end result may be as indicated in a recent poll that Manatt may not feature much in voters' judgement at the next elections. If that holds, it will not be very good news for the PNP which has, to date, not advanced a single compelling cause as to why that party would be deserving of a win the next time out.
Judgement on the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter may have made for much buzz among the 'thinking' class, whoever they are but, to the extent that traditional voters have concluded that the JLP's performance on the economy and crime is a work in progress, a win vote for the JLP at the next elections is not as far-fetched as some of us would like to believe.
The PNP knows that any manoeuvrability and change it may wish to make on the economic directions of this country are firmly tied into the dictates of the IMF agreement and our lending partners in the European Union and the United States. Coming out of WikiLeaks, it would appear that those players would not want to see a PNP leadership where the caprice of populism is chosen over a hard-nosed approach to economic management.
It is my belief that although no significant shadow has been cast on the recent change to the PNP's shadow cabinet, the move to place Dr Peter Phillips in the finance portfolio was a very deliberate one to make the PNP look good in the eyes of those foreign powerhouses while trying to appease local voters who may have had second thoughts on Dr Davies' performance in that portfolio between 1993 and 2007.
The fact is, the saving grace for the JLP administration is that overall, its performance in the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter has thankfully not been transmitted to other areas under its mandate, especially the economy. It will still have to begin the 'rightsizing' of the public service and that will not earn it any voting credits.
At the same time, with the US economy not bouncing back as fast as we would have liked and significant sections of European capitals on tenterhooks as it relates to their economies, the local absorption rates of our labour pool are severely reduced as the more educated and trained Jamaicans who would normally flee our shores to seek a better life may find the going abroad much rougher than usual.
The JLP's mantra of 'jobs, jobs, jobs,' was nothing novel to a political party. Those jobs have not been delivered and, if the politicians would only tell us the truth, no 'jobs, jobs, jobs' objective can be met in under three terms, unless the global economy was in a shape to yield us a mountain of investments in the space of say, five years.
As it is in Jamaica, as much as we tout the need for investments, outside of tourism, it is an eternal hassle and humbug to get anything moving in this country. At every level of the bureaucracy there is a desk where sits a village tyrant. He is THE boss and there are many desks in the long chain of discordance.
The real problem in this country, as many know, is the large pool of uneducated, untrained labour. With the vast majority of the best and brightest leaving Jamaica each year, it seems that the profile of the typical Jamaican person available for work has not changed much in 25 years.
He or she has little formal training, no certification and, even if a man is a skilled plumber or carpenter, it is quite likely that the only work available to him is to cut grass for seven days in each month. The real complement of workers under any 'jobs, jobs, jobs' objective would be, in addition to those involved in the placement of physical infrastructure on the ground, trained artisans, technicians, engineers, accountants, etc. For now the present administration has not made any dent in changing the profile of the economy which, over the last 25 years, has essentially been one which favours those who are skilled in hustling, scuffling, lifting boxes and cutting grass at the cemetery.
The PNP's trek to the next elections? Uphill
What will the Opposition PNP do if memories of Dudus and Manatt fade as elections approach?
The PNP may find itself like the prosecution in a murder trial. The defendant JLP knows that it is up to the prosecution to prove its case beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt. If the jurors -- the voters -- believe that a murder may have taken place but that the prosecution has not mounted an airtight case to pin it on the JLP, the PNP runs the risk of seeing the JLP walk free, all the way to the next elections.
The polls are unlikely to favour the JLP at this time but as the election machinery cranks up in both parties, I am prepared right now to give the edge to the ruling JLP. I will even use myself as an example.
Last time out, although I did not vote, I would have voted for the JLP. As much as I have been incensed at the JLP's handling of the Dudus extradition/Manatt matter, at this time I have seen nothing in the PNP to bring me to place a vote for it at the next elections.
Just to recap, having notionally supported the PNP in 1972, the first vote I made in 1976 was for the PNP. In 1980, 1986 (local), 1989, I voted JLP. In 1993, 1997 and 2002, I voted PNP.
For the PNP to get my vote, it would need to demonstrate to me that the leadership appreciates the changed dynamics in global politics from the last 20-year period to now. To me that has not yet unfolded. With Holness, Tufton, Vaz and Montague representing younger blood, if not fresher ideas, the JLP is still a party of old men.
For the PNP to get my vote to remove the incumbent JLP, it would have to show me much fresher faces. Lisa Hanna is a standout in the PNP, but what is AJ Nicholson doing in the PNP's shadow cabinet? A likely minister of pensionable affairs? What about Roger Clarke? Minister of agricultural antiquity?
In the pages of this newspaper I have allowed myself the expression of disappointment and even anger at what I saw as the weak leadership of Golding. This has been especially at the junctures where he was called on to make critical judgements. That said, he has apparently not fallen asleep on other important areas of managing the economy in difficult times and I am even prepared to forgive his early missteps.
I am forced to do so because I have not seen any appreciable counter to him in the leadership of the PNP. With an IMF engagement and, although US secretaries of state tend to use very diplomatic language whenever they are on friendly foreign soil, it cannot help the PNP's cause when Hillary Clinton said recently, "I look back now and what Jamaica has accomplished in financial and economic terms is very impressive and commendable."
That, as far as I am concerned, is indicative of a Government (read JLP) endorsement by the giant to the north of us.
Rev Paul Lewis must never preach here again
When I was a child and was forced to go to church and Sunday School, one of the high points used to be the visit of a foreign preacher.
First, he had a foreign accent, and to many that had to mean that he was a superior person if not preacher. The turnout would be to capacity whenever say, an American arrived. When Billy Graham visited in the late 1950s and preached at Knutsford Park race track, Jamaica went crazy.
While I am not accusing Rev Paul Lewis — who was recently freed of sexual assault charges (essentially statutory rape because the girl was below the age of consent which is 16) — of selling snake oil, a large part of what 'sweet mouth' preachers do is sell the impossible, that is, on top of trinkets and holy oil and pieces of wood from 'the holy land'.
It's quite a lucrative business.
In light of controversy surrounding his acquittal and reports that his DNA matched the DNA of semen found on the girl's underwear, in the minds of many Jamaicans, 'something funny' took place and Rev Lewis has been made persona non grata by the general population.
One reader wrote me the following, "I am a former police officer. In 2001, I assisted in the arresting of a man who was wanted for an offence of rape. In fact, I went overboard to apprehend that rapist. I was not the investigating officer but eventually I supervised the young woman police officer who had been collecting the statements. Listening to her ordeal I decided that I would make it a point of duty to bring this "criminal" to book.
"To cut a long story short, one day I was driving my car with my daughter in it, she would have been 10 at the time. I spotted the car (the victim had written down the licence number on the back of her hand) the suspected rapist was driving and followed it. When the man exited the car I realised it was someone whom I knew before. In fact, he drove a church bus and had taken my daughter to and from church the previous night!
"I called in assistance and he was arrested and subsequently pointed out on an ID parade. The long and short is I was offered $200,000 to assist this culprit to "beat the case". It was someone whom I had considered a "good friend" of mine who made the offer. The language I used to describe him and the offer was not so decent.
"Suffice it to say, the case went on to trial and the rapist was acquitted. Based on my investigation afterwards, envelopes were passed on to at least three members of the jury by a family member of the accused during the lunch break the second day into the trial. I will say no more."
Too many men of the cloth pretend to their 'flock' that their sexuality doesn't exist. For this reason, the normal controls that a reasonably well-adjusted man would make in the face of torrid sexual temptation are not applied by the pastor, preacher or paedophile priest because, as far as they are concerned, they are outfitted in the 'armour of God', where all sins will be forgiven.
In the past, because I had close associations with residents living in economically deprived situations, there have been instances where mothers have 'offered' me their daughters. First, they do it because, in their minds, their daughters will soon get pregnant for 'some wutliss bwoy' and, in the event of a pregnancy, they would prefer if a man who affects class, decency and economic clout is the father. In the interim, of course, there is always the unexpressed hope that there will be a regular flow of money to the household.
The surprise is that my rejection of such offers is usually met with states of confusion as if I must be mad to refuse. A man is a man whether he pounds from the pulpit or pastes dancehall signs on a post for a living. He will be tempted and there are many instances where he can safely yield to such temptation, ideally between himself and his wife/woman or, at the very least, between himself and a woman of legal age.
You have our sympathies, Buju
HAVING been sentenced to 10 years in prison, if we are pragmatic in our assessments of the case and the trial, we must admit that in the circumstances, it could have been worse.
I didn't particularly like Buju's music, but that only made me the odd one out. Once evidence was unearthed to show Buju visiting that warehouse and using a knife to taste cocaine from a packet of the illicit stuff, I saw it as curtains for him. No lawyerly skills could work for him them.
Were I a member of the jury, I would have been thinking, 'Why did he taste it? Does he know good coke from bad coke? Was tasting it an attempt to ensure that the product was authentic? And if the answer was in the affirmative, should I not believe that he was carrying out an act that he had formerly carried out before?'
Ten years is, in that instance, not so bad. Maybe he can get out early on good behaviour and, whatever happens, he can start over again. The sad part is that the real money for Jamaican pop entertainers is on the touring circuit and Buju will not be able to take advantage of the lucrative US market.
But, all is not lost and, who knows, there may be a number of lessons to learn. There is life after prison. He will still be able to bounce back.
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1QOQE7i2e
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