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Lloyd B. Smith
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Me love Portia but me no inna di PNP." I have heard this expression over and over again. Yes, this is part of the growing dilemma facing the Jamaican voter who is truly caught between a rock and a hard place. That is why both the JLP and PNP continue to be in a dead heat in all the published polls so far. Indeed, were it not for the Portia factor, it would have been all over, except the shouting.
Truth be told, JLP Leader Bruce Golding, although seen as a competent and focused first among equals, is yet to score exceedingly well in the area of likeability. There is also that all-important matter of trust. Given his topsy-turvy relationship with the JLP under Edward Seaga and his "dibby-dibby" sojourn in the National Democratic Movement (NDM), many Jamaicans, some even in his own party, do not trust him. And if the Jamaican people do not love and trust you, any slip between the cup and the lip could lead to absolute disaster at the polls.
What the JLP has going for it is the fact that the people, generally speaking, are tired of the PNP. After some 18 years in office, spanning four terms, a large number of Jamaicans want to see the back of the PNP and give the JLP a chance to bat at the wicket. But it is a very sticky wicket. To begin with, the JLP has been making a great deal of promises, seemingly to woo voters. Promises that for the most part are not backed up with much credibility and creditability.
In other words, as former JLP leader Edward Seaga has said, it takes cash to care. And the multi-million dollar question that is haunting the JLP campaign trail (especially among thinking voters), is where the money will come from in the short term to fund these many "highfalutin" promises. Is it, as its PNP detractors have been maintaining, a case of saying and doing everything to get first past the post and then turn around and say afterwards that they got empty coffers so they can't do as they had promised? What a dilemma!
History has shown that the PNP has always been the popular choice for Jamaican voters. The JLP gets elected only when the people are truly fed up or, as they say, "when things gone from bad to worse, to worserer"! With the PNP having this popularity base coupled with a very popular leader, the JLP would be foolhardy to think that it is all over, except the shouting. Portia is a very magnetic and charismatic politician on the hustings and the Jamaican electorate is known to be fickle and emotional. So with a lot of sweet talk, curried goat, Red Stripe beer and few "Manleys" and "Nannys", any number could play. That is why it is being felt that the party with the biggest war chest is the party that will win, regardless of the perceived popular sentiment at the time when elections are called.
Perhaps that is why Mr Golding is so uncomfortable with the allegation as espoused by him that the PNP is set to get a great deal of money from a certain oil-rich Latin American country which wants to buy influence in the Caribbean in order to shore up its leader's anti-American (or is it just anti-Bush stance?). In the meantime, it is being bandied about that the JLP is awash in cash coming from the big business interests who do not like a Portia being their prime minister.
For them, "she is not one of the boys". There is also the persistent rumour that the big drug players are running scared because of what they perceive as a too aggressive PNP regime with respect to taking them out of business by way of Operation Kingfish, and so they are seeking to align themselves to another party which they feel may be more sympathetic to their cause.
In this vein, the issue of campaign financing should not be shoved under the carpet. It is into this conundrum that the Jamaican voters, especially those who are not diehard PNP or JLP, find themselves. Should they go with the popular lady whom they like and trust, but don't like or trust her party, or should they go with the more popular party at the moment but whose leader they don't like or trust enough? And in all of this mix-up, there is the influence of big money, whether tainted or otherwise. Can the real issues emerge from this mess and take centre stage?
The Jamaican electorate is truly at a pivotal crossroads. Let us hope in the final analysis that it will not be a classic case of "swapping black dog for monkey". In any event, it is time we got rid of that deleterious syndrome and vote for Jamaica land we love. "Time come for JLP", or "First term for Sister P"? The die is cast.
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Me love Portia but me no inna di PNP." I have heard this expression over and over again. Yes, this is part of the growing dilemma facing the Jamaican voter who is truly caught between a rock and a hard place. That is why both the JLP and PNP continue to be in a dead heat in all the published polls so far. Indeed, were it not for the Portia factor, it would have been all over, except the shouting.
Truth be told, JLP Leader Bruce Golding, although seen as a competent and focused first among equals, is yet to score exceedingly well in the area of likeability. There is also that all-important matter of trust. Given his topsy-turvy relationship with the JLP under Edward Seaga and his "dibby-dibby" sojourn in the National Democratic Movement (NDM), many Jamaicans, some even in his own party, do not trust him. And if the Jamaican people do not love and trust you, any slip between the cup and the lip could lead to absolute disaster at the polls.
What the JLP has going for it is the fact that the people, generally speaking, are tired of the PNP. After some 18 years in office, spanning four terms, a large number of Jamaicans want to see the back of the PNP and give the JLP a chance to bat at the wicket. But it is a very sticky wicket. To begin with, the JLP has been making a great deal of promises, seemingly to woo voters. Promises that for the most part are not backed up with much credibility and creditability.
In other words, as former JLP leader Edward Seaga has said, it takes cash to care. And the multi-million dollar question that is haunting the JLP campaign trail (especially among thinking voters), is where the money will come from in the short term to fund these many "highfalutin" promises. Is it, as its PNP detractors have been maintaining, a case of saying and doing everything to get first past the post and then turn around and say afterwards that they got empty coffers so they can't do as they had promised? What a dilemma!
History has shown that the PNP has always been the popular choice for Jamaican voters. The JLP gets elected only when the people are truly fed up or, as they say, "when things gone from bad to worse, to worserer"! With the PNP having this popularity base coupled with a very popular leader, the JLP would be foolhardy to think that it is all over, except the shouting. Portia is a very magnetic and charismatic politician on the hustings and the Jamaican electorate is known to be fickle and emotional. So with a lot of sweet talk, curried goat, Red Stripe beer and few "Manleys" and "Nannys", any number could play. That is why it is being felt that the party with the biggest war chest is the party that will win, regardless of the perceived popular sentiment at the time when elections are called.
Perhaps that is why Mr Golding is so uncomfortable with the allegation as espoused by him that the PNP is set to get a great deal of money from a certain oil-rich Latin American country which wants to buy influence in the Caribbean in order to shore up its leader's anti-American (or is it just anti-Bush stance?). In the meantime, it is being bandied about that the JLP is awash in cash coming from the big business interests who do not like a Portia being their prime minister.
For them, "she is not one of the boys". There is also the persistent rumour that the big drug players are running scared because of what they perceive as a too aggressive PNP regime with respect to taking them out of business by way of Operation Kingfish, and so they are seeking to align themselves to another party which they feel may be more sympathetic to their cause.
In this vein, the issue of campaign financing should not be shoved under the carpet. It is into this conundrum that the Jamaican voters, especially those who are not diehard PNP or JLP, find themselves. Should they go with the popular lady whom they like and trust, but don't like or trust her party, or should they go with the more popular party at the moment but whose leader they don't like or trust enough? And in all of this mix-up, there is the influence of big money, whether tainted or otherwise. Can the real issues emerge from this mess and take centre stage?
The Jamaican electorate is truly at a pivotal crossroads. Let us hope in the final analysis that it will not be a classic case of "swapping black dog for monkey". In any event, it is time we got rid of that deleterious syndrome and vote for Jamaica land we love. "Time come for JLP", or "First term for Sister P"? The die is cast.
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
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