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When will Jamaica win?
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
FORTY-NINE years and counting! Yes, the countdown has begun as Jamaica approaches its 50th year as an independent nation. Many will argue that the country has not achieved much in real terms, economically and otherwise, while others, the eternal optimists, will maintain that much has been achieved in the arts, sports, academia, medicine and a number
of selected fields in which Jamaicans have individually excelled. The big question is, however, has Jamaica (meaning Jamaicans collectively) crossed the Rubicon?
In the meantime, there are polls, polls and more polls. But are these polls a blessing or a curse? While it is accepted that a poll is but a snapshot of a particular period in time, it can and does influence John and Jane Public in terms of telling them which way the wind is blowing. One consistent feature of these polls in recent memory is the fact that an appreciable number of Jamaicans have been turned off from the political system. Voter apathy and citizen cynicism are as perennial as the grass!
And in this context, one is forced to accept the harsh reality that Jamaica is a failing state. Of course, it may be contended that 50 years is not so long a time comparatively speaking to judge a fledgling nation's overall development, but when a country has been unable to meet some of the basic needs of its people and to satisfy their aspirations for a better quality of life, then it is fair to say that its leaders have failed to bring home the bacon!
Locked in a two-party Westminster-type parliamentary democracy system, Jamaicans, since the attainment of universal adult suffrage in 1944, have embraced two political parties, referred to as gangs or tribes: the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party have dominated the electoral process. Indeed, it has been a classic case of "room for rent, apply within, when I run out, you run in". This "first past the post" scenario has helped to entrench a system which gives well-meaning citizens very little option in which to exercise their franchise. Up to 1989, the two-term syndrome was a done deal, then came along the "Fresh Prince", PJ Patterson, who took the PNP to four terms, leaving the JLP in the political wilderness for some 18 1/2 years. And perhaps, were it not for an indecisive Portia Simpson Miller who called the general election at a most inopportune time, the PNP might have gone on to a fifth term.
The September 2007 election results showed the JLP, notwithstanding the fact that it had spent millions of dollars in campaigning, barely scraping through with 32 seats to the PNP's 28. This razor-thin margin of victory which was attained across the board by some 3,000 votes helped to reinforce a situation in which Jamaica is still controlled by two tribes that seem to be perpetually at war. But if PJ Patterson attained the unprecedented by taking the PNP to four terms, will Bruce Golding set an unenviable record of seeing the JLP become a one-term government?
Political parties are primarily designed to win elections, but in any thriving, self-respecting democracy, citizens ought to ensure that whichever party wins delivers the goods and services that they have promised on the campaign trail. But, alas, in Jamaican politics there is very little accountability. To put it bluntly, politics has become a business, and so winning is not really an opportunity to serve the people but for self-aggrandisement and fattening cronies and relatives. Hence, corruption, arrogance and an uncaring attitude have become the order of the day. Is it any wonder that the majority of Jamaicans have consistently felt that this country is going in the wrong direction?
Even as another general election looms, it's all about which party will win but very little about what it will do after it has won. Will it be business as usual?
What will the PNP do differently from that which it has done in the past, and can the JLP be trusted to change course in terms of providing better governance strategies? Does any other party out there have the ghost of a chance of retiring these two behemoths that have straddled the political landscape for decades? Is it just a matter of infusing both major parties with young blood? Is it just a question of the personnel and not the system? Why aren't they debating the real issues at this time rather than persistently dealing with peripheral items or distractions that are being used to score cheap political points? Is it just the "economy, stupid", or should we be looking at issues of character, trustworthiness, transparency, integrity and accountability?
If the JLP is to stick with its 2007 Manifesto, then it is going to have a serious credibility problem because with the JDX and low-interest rates successes inter alia, it has not sufficiently convinced the electorate that it is the better of two evils. The PNP, on the other hand, is yet to bring to the fore a raft of ideas that will make it a brand new commodity and not just "brand new second hand". Meanwhile, given the Manatt/Dudus saga plus the continuing perception that the JLP has been more corrupt than the PNP, is it that Bruce Golding and his team will be seen as "genuine counterfeit"?
The sad truth is that Jamaicans are facing a perplexing dilemma because when all is said and done, I am convinced that what the people want is not just a political party to win but that when it is all over and the dust has settled on the hustings, it can truly be said that Jamaica has won, for the first time at last!
For this paradigm shift to take place, then the conversation has to change. Enough of the bantering, the "tracing" and the puerile game of "anything you can do I can do it better". One of the drawbacks to this happening post-haste is that the young elements in both the JLP and PNP are yet to seize the moment and bring a fresh wind of change to the political landscape. It is they who are holding back this country and they must now step up to the plate or become irascible reactionaries by default. And this time round, the revolution will be televised.
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1QZMLr6jF
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
FORTY-NINE years and counting! Yes, the countdown has begun as Jamaica approaches its 50th year as an independent nation. Many will argue that the country has not achieved much in real terms, economically and otherwise, while others, the eternal optimists, will maintain that much has been achieved in the arts, sports, academia, medicine and a number
of selected fields in which Jamaicans have individually excelled. The big question is, however, has Jamaica (meaning Jamaicans collectively) crossed the Rubicon?
In the meantime, there are polls, polls and more polls. But are these polls a blessing or a curse? While it is accepted that a poll is but a snapshot of a particular period in time, it can and does influence John and Jane Public in terms of telling them which way the wind is blowing. One consistent feature of these polls in recent memory is the fact that an appreciable number of Jamaicans have been turned off from the political system. Voter apathy and citizen cynicism are as perennial as the grass!
And in this context, one is forced to accept the harsh reality that Jamaica is a failing state. Of course, it may be contended that 50 years is not so long a time comparatively speaking to judge a fledgling nation's overall development, but when a country has been unable to meet some of the basic needs of its people and to satisfy their aspirations for a better quality of life, then it is fair to say that its leaders have failed to bring home the bacon!
Locked in a two-party Westminster-type parliamentary democracy system, Jamaicans, since the attainment of universal adult suffrage in 1944, have embraced two political parties, referred to as gangs or tribes: the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party have dominated the electoral process. Indeed, it has been a classic case of "room for rent, apply within, when I run out, you run in". This "first past the post" scenario has helped to entrench a system which gives well-meaning citizens very little option in which to exercise their franchise. Up to 1989, the two-term syndrome was a done deal, then came along the "Fresh Prince", PJ Patterson, who took the PNP to four terms, leaving the JLP in the political wilderness for some 18 1/2 years. And perhaps, were it not for an indecisive Portia Simpson Miller who called the general election at a most inopportune time, the PNP might have gone on to a fifth term.
The September 2007 election results showed the JLP, notwithstanding the fact that it had spent millions of dollars in campaigning, barely scraping through with 32 seats to the PNP's 28. This razor-thin margin of victory which was attained across the board by some 3,000 votes helped to reinforce a situation in which Jamaica is still controlled by two tribes that seem to be perpetually at war. But if PJ Patterson attained the unprecedented by taking the PNP to four terms, will Bruce Golding set an unenviable record of seeing the JLP become a one-term government?
Political parties are primarily designed to win elections, but in any thriving, self-respecting democracy, citizens ought to ensure that whichever party wins delivers the goods and services that they have promised on the campaign trail. But, alas, in Jamaican politics there is very little accountability. To put it bluntly, politics has become a business, and so winning is not really an opportunity to serve the people but for self-aggrandisement and fattening cronies and relatives. Hence, corruption, arrogance and an uncaring attitude have become the order of the day. Is it any wonder that the majority of Jamaicans have consistently felt that this country is going in the wrong direction?
Even as another general election looms, it's all about which party will win but very little about what it will do after it has won. Will it be business as usual?
What will the PNP do differently from that which it has done in the past, and can the JLP be trusted to change course in terms of providing better governance strategies? Does any other party out there have the ghost of a chance of retiring these two behemoths that have straddled the political landscape for decades? Is it just a matter of infusing both major parties with young blood? Is it just a question of the personnel and not the system? Why aren't they debating the real issues at this time rather than persistently dealing with peripheral items or distractions that are being used to score cheap political points? Is it just the "economy, stupid", or should we be looking at issues of character, trustworthiness, transparency, integrity and accountability?
If the JLP is to stick with its 2007 Manifesto, then it is going to have a serious credibility problem because with the JDX and low-interest rates successes inter alia, it has not sufficiently convinced the electorate that it is the better of two evils. The PNP, on the other hand, is yet to bring to the fore a raft of ideas that will make it a brand new commodity and not just "brand new second hand". Meanwhile, given the Manatt/Dudus saga plus the continuing perception that the JLP has been more corrupt than the PNP, is it that Bruce Golding and his team will be seen as "genuine counterfeit"?
The sad truth is that Jamaicans are facing a perplexing dilemma because when all is said and done, I am convinced that what the people want is not just a political party to win but that when it is all over and the dust has settled on the hustings, it can truly be said that Jamaica has won, for the first time at last!
For this paradigm shift to take place, then the conversation has to change. Enough of the bantering, the "tracing" and the puerile game of "anything you can do I can do it better". One of the drawbacks to this happening post-haste is that the young elements in both the JLP and PNP are yet to seize the moment and bring a fresh wind of change to the political landscape. It is they who are holding back this country and they must now step up to the plate or become irascible reactionaries by default. And this time round, the revolution will be televised.
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1QZMLr6jF
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