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PNP, JLP and tall tales
Published: Tuesday | December 13, 2011 10 Comments
by Daraine Luton
THERE are six persons I'd like to interview before this election campaign is over. One is the Comrade who met Prime Minister Andrew Holness in the United States and told him he was no longer proud of his party. The other five are said to be young men who PNP President Portia Simpson Miller said called her and asked that she send an emissary to talk to them because they no longer intend to vote Labour. Unless I get proof that these persons exist, I will continue to believe that the phone call Simpson Miller received was placed from May Pen Cemetery, and that Holness' creative mind invented that Comrade.
Since the election campaign kicked off, there has been no shortage of Anancy stories. Certainly, I don't think all the tales told on the platform have been made up, nor do I expect to meet all the characters who have been mentioned. Nonetheless, I believe it is the responsibility of the storytellers to prove the existence of the characters.
serious charge
Consider Simpson Miller's story. The five men who each sold their vote to the JLP for $5,000 in the 2007 general election appeared to believe the money should last for five years. They have felt Labour pains and have decided to ride the PNP express to deliverance.
Now, this is a serious charge being made by the PNP president. It concerns illegal vote-buying. Under Section 94 of the Representation of the People Act, persons found guilty of this crime can be sent to prison for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years, or be charged $80,000. If Simpson Miller has access to persons who could supply evidence of vote-buying, she has a responsibility to get the police involved.
In the meantime, I would want to interview these men because the allegation has serious implications for our democracy, and media have a responsibility to secure this process on behalf of all the citizens of this country.
Also, I would be naïve to accept Holness' story about that nationalist Comrade without getting an opportunity to interview the subject myself. The tale, as told by the JLP leader, was too good to be true.
Holness' mystery Comrade hit all the right pro-JLP notes in his conversation with the JLP leader. He is a victim of the financial-sector crisis of the 1990s, rebukes a PNP member for speaking about Holness' children being homeschooled, is proud of the Government's economic programme, and lauds the JLP for the reduction in crime. The only thing missing from the story was 'Jack Mandora, mi nuh choose none'.
There is a place for anecdotes on the hustings, but the overload of Anancy stories (unless they are proven to be otherwise) runs the risk of eroding the credibility of both leaders. In fact, I don't think either of them would want to be exposed like Sarah Palin, whose Joe the Plumber was not even a plumber.
Anancy stories aside, I have detected what appears to be the willingness of politicians to pluck statistics from the sky. Holness has already been exposed in that regard.
plans lost in rhetoric
But Anancy stories and misleading statistics are not the only maladies of the campaign thus far. There is the greater issue of an absence of proposed policy. I have been assigned to follow the PNP president around. Although I have heard a fair deal of her addresses, I am yet to discern the PNP's plans that would restore hope to the country. In fact, the most consistent message I have heard from Simpson Miller is "Hold on, help is on the way."
Now that nomination day is over, let us see if policies and programmes will now replace vague rhetoric. I suggest that the Damion Crawford template be used.
I was particularly impressed with Crawford's address in the St Andrew East Rural neighbourhood of Mavis Bank last Thursday night. And it is not because he is a personal friend and fellow Taylorite. Aside from ribbing his opponents, Crawford enunciated clear policies he would implement for the advancement of the constituency. He spoke to the creation of a night school for adults, remedial lessons for children, as well as the tourism potential of the St Andrew hills. And the fact that he effortlessly delivered these plans - whose feasibility voters will judge - without leaving his audience in a daze contradicts the widely held view that issues cannot be discussed on political platforms.
The fact that mass meetings are usually attended by party workers and foot soldiers cannot be an excuse for using such occasions to either tell duppy stories or beat one's rival into the ground with insults.
Daraine Luton is a senior staff reporter. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com.
Published: Tuesday | December 13, 2011 10 Comments
by Daraine Luton
THERE are six persons I'd like to interview before this election campaign is over. One is the Comrade who met Prime Minister Andrew Holness in the United States and told him he was no longer proud of his party. The other five are said to be young men who PNP President Portia Simpson Miller said called her and asked that she send an emissary to talk to them because they no longer intend to vote Labour. Unless I get proof that these persons exist, I will continue to believe that the phone call Simpson Miller received was placed from May Pen Cemetery, and that Holness' creative mind invented that Comrade.
Since the election campaign kicked off, there has been no shortage of Anancy stories. Certainly, I don't think all the tales told on the platform have been made up, nor do I expect to meet all the characters who have been mentioned. Nonetheless, I believe it is the responsibility of the storytellers to prove the existence of the characters.
serious charge
Consider Simpson Miller's story. The five men who each sold their vote to the JLP for $5,000 in the 2007 general election appeared to believe the money should last for five years. They have felt Labour pains and have decided to ride the PNP express to deliverance.
Now, this is a serious charge being made by the PNP president. It concerns illegal vote-buying. Under Section 94 of the Representation of the People Act, persons found guilty of this crime can be sent to prison for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years, or be charged $80,000. If Simpson Miller has access to persons who could supply evidence of vote-buying, she has a responsibility to get the police involved.
In the meantime, I would want to interview these men because the allegation has serious implications for our democracy, and media have a responsibility to secure this process on behalf of all the citizens of this country.
Also, I would be naïve to accept Holness' story about that nationalist Comrade without getting an opportunity to interview the subject myself. The tale, as told by the JLP leader, was too good to be true.
Holness' mystery Comrade hit all the right pro-JLP notes in his conversation with the JLP leader. He is a victim of the financial-sector crisis of the 1990s, rebukes a PNP member for speaking about Holness' children being homeschooled, is proud of the Government's economic programme, and lauds the JLP for the reduction in crime. The only thing missing from the story was 'Jack Mandora, mi nuh choose none'.
There is a place for anecdotes on the hustings, but the overload of Anancy stories (unless they are proven to be otherwise) runs the risk of eroding the credibility of both leaders. In fact, I don't think either of them would want to be exposed like Sarah Palin, whose Joe the Plumber was not even a plumber.
Anancy stories aside, I have detected what appears to be the willingness of politicians to pluck statistics from the sky. Holness has already been exposed in that regard.
plans lost in rhetoric
But Anancy stories and misleading statistics are not the only maladies of the campaign thus far. There is the greater issue of an absence of proposed policy. I have been assigned to follow the PNP president around. Although I have heard a fair deal of her addresses, I am yet to discern the PNP's plans that would restore hope to the country. In fact, the most consistent message I have heard from Simpson Miller is "Hold on, help is on the way."
Now that nomination day is over, let us see if policies and programmes will now replace vague rhetoric. I suggest that the Damion Crawford template be used.
I was particularly impressed with Crawford's address in the St Andrew East Rural neighbourhood of Mavis Bank last Thursday night. And it is not because he is a personal friend and fellow Taylorite. Aside from ribbing his opponents, Crawford enunciated clear policies he would implement for the advancement of the constituency. He spoke to the creation of a night school for adults, remedial lessons for children, as well as the tourism potential of the St Andrew hills. And the fact that he effortlessly delivered these plans - whose feasibility voters will judge - without leaving his audience in a daze contradicts the widely held view that issues cannot be discussed on political platforms.
The fact that mass meetings are usually attended by party workers and foot soldiers cannot be an excuse for using such occasions to either tell duppy stories or beat one's rival into the ground with insults.
Daraine Luton is a senior staff reporter. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com.
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