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Silly G2K
Published: Tuesday | January 3, 20121 Comment
We erred yesterday in not explicitly telling Andrew Holness that G2K, his party's youth wing, is badly in need of fixing if the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is to rebuild its credibility.
Much has already been said about G2K's arrogance, overreach, and descent from an organisation of thought and ideas into old-style, tribal partisanship under Delano Seiveright.
But the extent of G2K's puerile silliness is cruelly exposed in correspondence it has circulated to the media, supposedly from an anonymous member, on the cause of the JLP's election loss. That the leadership chose to share this document suggests that they give it weight.
Forget the state of the economy or the loss of public trust that attended the JLP during its stint in office. Concluded the document: "[The defeat] has nothing to do with Manatt or Dudus. It has nothing to do with Andrew Holness losing its shine. It is because the JLP was outenumerated by the PNP in certain seats that were seen as marginal/crucial."
If he follows G2K, Mr Holness will have learnt nothing.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
EDITORIAL
G2K's Portia attack backfired
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Dear Editor,
It must have come as a surprise to diehard supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that they have lost the election, and worse, by such a wide margin. It should be hard to fathom after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the election campaign.
Delano Seiveright
1/1
Transporting supporters in massive numbers all over the island must have cost a lot of money, as it is said they were paid and fed. The advertising blitz was massive. The JLP dominated the airwaves and the television screens. But with all these massive crowds and the hundreds of millions spent, the JLP lost the election and the highly touted post-Independence leader 'Prince Andrew' became the second shortest serving prime minister after Sir Donald Sangster.
The JLP, I imagine, will begin immediately to analyse all the finer details and try to figure out how it lost this election, when earlier, people like G2K president Delano Seiveright and some others in the hierarchy predicted a landslide victory. Others were sober enough to suggest that the party would secure a comfortable victory.
In its review the JLP needs to consider why Andrew Holness was projected like a new 'Messiah'. And to make matters worse, he seemed to believe the propaganda himself, and proceeded to give the impression to the Jamaican people that he was specially sent at this time to deliver Jamaica, as it were, from the hands of the 'Philistines'.
I am still surprised that as a senior minister in the Bruce Golding Cabinet he was just on the periphery when some important decisions were taken, yet he projected himself in the campaign as this strong and decisive leader who is not afraid to take tough decisions.
Andrew Holness was the JLP, and the JLP was Andrew Holness. He seemed to have gone overboard with the me, myself and I syndrome. The JLP erred big time.
In spite of this great error, the JLP allowed itself to be hijacked by its young professional arm, G2K. How in heavens name could the parent body allow this group to act as immature juveniles in consistently attacking the leader of the PNP, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller?
In a country where it is not uncommon for women to be abused, G2K went out of its way in attacking Mrs Simpson Miller. The group tried its best to demean her. Its campaign was not so much to attack the PNP but to bring Mrs Simpson Miller to the lowest denominator.
It also appeared as if some young people were coached to phone the call-in programmes to help in the attack. It was pathetic to listen to them. Was the JLP bereft of ideas to attack the People's National Party? By its action G2K gives the impression that it is dominated by a group of male chauvinists.
It does not matter how one might feel about her, but Mrs Simpson Miller is a living example to the average Jamaican. A lady coming from the 'bowels of the poor', as she puts it, eventually rose to occupy the high office of prime minister. In any other country, a similar story of a poor woman from a remote district of Wood Hall who, through dint of hard work and determination, rose to become the first woman prime minister should be able to make the best sellers list.
Yet, so much disrespect has been shown to her by her opponents. Quite unnecessary indeed. There were so many other things in her party for the JLP to build its campaign around. The Jamaican people let the JLP pay dearly for its folly.
G2K was Portia's best asset in the election campaign. If the group's ears were close to the ground it would have realised the resentment of the ordinary people to its tactics of concentrating its attack on her.
G2K seemed to have forgotten that she continues to enjoy enormous support throughout the country and is one of the most popular politicians around today. How then did G2K not take that into consideration? The constant attacks on her might have resonated well with the middle class, but she certainly had the last laugh with the working class. The JLP will now remember how not to run an election campaign.
Hubert McIntyre
Torada Heights
Montego Bay
hihubert@yahoo.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz1iOsBD1PJ
Published: Tuesday | January 3, 20121 Comment
We erred yesterday in not explicitly telling Andrew Holness that G2K, his party's youth wing, is badly in need of fixing if the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is to rebuild its credibility.
Much has already been said about G2K's arrogance, overreach, and descent from an organisation of thought and ideas into old-style, tribal partisanship under Delano Seiveright.
But the extent of G2K's puerile silliness is cruelly exposed in correspondence it has circulated to the media, supposedly from an anonymous member, on the cause of the JLP's election loss. That the leadership chose to share this document suggests that they give it weight.
Forget the state of the economy or the loss of public trust that attended the JLP during its stint in office. Concluded the document: "[The defeat] has nothing to do with Manatt or Dudus. It has nothing to do with Andrew Holness losing its shine. It is because the JLP was outenumerated by the PNP in certain seats that were seen as marginal/crucial."
If he follows G2K, Mr Holness will have learnt nothing.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
EDITORIAL
G2K's Portia attack backfired
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Dear Editor,
It must have come as a surprise to diehard supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that they have lost the election, and worse, by such a wide margin. It should be hard to fathom after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the election campaign.
Delano Seiveright
1/1
Transporting supporters in massive numbers all over the island must have cost a lot of money, as it is said they were paid and fed. The advertising blitz was massive. The JLP dominated the airwaves and the television screens. But with all these massive crowds and the hundreds of millions spent, the JLP lost the election and the highly touted post-Independence leader 'Prince Andrew' became the second shortest serving prime minister after Sir Donald Sangster.
The JLP, I imagine, will begin immediately to analyse all the finer details and try to figure out how it lost this election, when earlier, people like G2K president Delano Seiveright and some others in the hierarchy predicted a landslide victory. Others were sober enough to suggest that the party would secure a comfortable victory.
In its review the JLP needs to consider why Andrew Holness was projected like a new 'Messiah'. And to make matters worse, he seemed to believe the propaganda himself, and proceeded to give the impression to the Jamaican people that he was specially sent at this time to deliver Jamaica, as it were, from the hands of the 'Philistines'.
I am still surprised that as a senior minister in the Bruce Golding Cabinet he was just on the periphery when some important decisions were taken, yet he projected himself in the campaign as this strong and decisive leader who is not afraid to take tough decisions.
Andrew Holness was the JLP, and the JLP was Andrew Holness. He seemed to have gone overboard with the me, myself and I syndrome. The JLP erred big time.
In spite of this great error, the JLP allowed itself to be hijacked by its young professional arm, G2K. How in heavens name could the parent body allow this group to act as immature juveniles in consistently attacking the leader of the PNP, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller?
In a country where it is not uncommon for women to be abused, G2K went out of its way in attacking Mrs Simpson Miller. The group tried its best to demean her. Its campaign was not so much to attack the PNP but to bring Mrs Simpson Miller to the lowest denominator.
It also appeared as if some young people were coached to phone the call-in programmes to help in the attack. It was pathetic to listen to them. Was the JLP bereft of ideas to attack the People's National Party? By its action G2K gives the impression that it is dominated by a group of male chauvinists.
It does not matter how one might feel about her, but Mrs Simpson Miller is a living example to the average Jamaican. A lady coming from the 'bowels of the poor', as she puts it, eventually rose to occupy the high office of prime minister. In any other country, a similar story of a poor woman from a remote district of Wood Hall who, through dint of hard work and determination, rose to become the first woman prime minister should be able to make the best sellers list.
Yet, so much disrespect has been shown to her by her opponents. Quite unnecessary indeed. There were so many other things in her party for the JLP to build its campaign around. The Jamaican people let the JLP pay dearly for its folly.
G2K was Portia's best asset in the election campaign. If the group's ears were close to the ground it would have realised the resentment of the ordinary people to its tactics of concentrating its attack on her.
G2K seemed to have forgotten that she continues to enjoy enormous support throughout the country and is one of the most popular politicians around today. How then did G2K not take that into consideration? The constant attacks on her might have resonated well with the middle class, but she certainly had the last laugh with the working class. The JLP will now remember how not to run an election campaign.
Hubert McIntyre
Torada Heights
Montego Bay
hihubert@yahoo.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz1iOsBD1PJ
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