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Learning from Asafa
published: Sunday | September 9, 2007
Don Robotham, Contributor
Jamaica Labour Party leader Bruce Golding. - File
In the last two weeks, two major public events have occurred.
Our athletes had a record medal haul at Osaka. Then, the general election came and went. How our athletes performed has many lessons for our political leaders and for the nation as a whole.
In the election, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was the clear victor. Congratulations to our new Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.
It has been an arduous and tortuous journey. Not so long ago, Mr. Golding was being rudely unseated at the swearing in of Portia Simpson Miller.
Such is politics.
But the People's National Party (PNP) has nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, almost everyone is surprised at how close the election was. The JLP won 50.18 per cent of the popular vote to the PNP's 49.82 per cent. This is a difference of just under 0.4 per cent. In absolute terms, a mere 2,940 votes. If 25 votes per constituency had shifted to the other side, the PNP would have won the popular vote last Monday.
Forty per cent of the electorate did not vote for either party. The JLP vote was 30.3 per cent of the total electorate. The PNP obtained 30.1 per cent. Neither side obtained as much as one third of the electorate.
JLP WEAKNESS
The minuscule JLP margin raises troubling questions for them. If, facing a scandal-plagued, tired, divided, 18-year-old PNP govern-ment, and with a multi-billion dollar campaign budget, all the JLP could manage was a 0.36 per cent photo finish, this sends one message loud and clear: Jamaica is PNP country!
The JLP won the debates. They dominated the media. Their political machinery was superb. They worked enthusiastically and stayed on message. Money was no object - the deep pockets of the four blind mice (or was it five?) saw to that.
Their negative ads succeeded in turning voters away from the PNP. But they failed to persuade voters to turn to them en masse. The voter turnout was moderate - only 60.4 per cent. This accounts for the small size of the JLP majority.
Although disaffected with the PNP, when it came to actually entering the voting booth and placing an 'X' beside the bell, thousands could not bring themselves to do it. That bell was too 'red'.
PNP WEAKNESS
In the end, however, it was the weakness of the PNP which proved fatal. The PNP held on to its base, but it alienated a large sector of its traditional middle-class support. Its campaign was too much focused on the personality of 'Sista P'. I am not referring to the upper-middle class here. It's the middle-middle that was the problem - the teachers, nurses and civil servants who are vital for a PNP victory. Alienating them damages the PNP in the organised working class and among many medium and small farmers as well - the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters of many teachers and nurses.
These groups were in two minds about the 'Portia factor'. On the one hand, they were sympathetic to a leader 'from the bowels of the working class'. On the other, they were embarrassed by what they saw as serious weaknesses of leadership.
Many lessons
There are,therefore, many lessons to be learned. The first is that Jamaica cannot be governed without a partnership with the middle class. Jamaica cannot be governed by lording it over the black majority either. No doubt this may be possible in Cayman, or Bermuda, or even in Barbados, for all I know. For sure, this is not an issue in Singapore! But it won't work here in Jamaica, land we love.
Will both sides learn these lessons? Already, Mr. Golding is indicating that he understands these realities. He has been magnanimous to a fault. He has suggested a new "constructive engagement" - an unfortunate phrase borrowed from the pro-apartheid lexicon.
Exactly what Mr. Golding intends is yet to be determined. But he is headed in the right direction. How far, we shall see. Will he have PNP leaders in high positions? No engagement - constructive or otherwise - will be possible if the JLP media machine continues to rub salt into wounds with insulting and condescending statements reeking of class and racial prejudice.
Golding's statesmanlike remarks are at odds with all this crowing and have, therefore, raised quite a few eyebrows among the zealots in the JLP. What is Golding playing at - threatening to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Over their dead body!
From this point of view, if Golding imagines that he is going to impose some kind of wishy-washy National Democratic Movement line on them, after they fought so hard and waited so long, 'Him wrong! It naw go happen!'
Leading lights among the uptown lumpen have already staked out their claim to Cabinet and other high posts. The Seagaites, their fling with 'Sista P' at an end, are ready to rumble. They have discovered a sudden affection for Golding and are jostling for positions.
Other financiers are busy sharing out ministries, ambassadorships, and other plum jobs, left, right and centre. Hurried trips to Miami to replenish wardrobes have been taking place. JLP grandees - wives in the vanguard - are determined that the swearing-in will be a 'red' September to remember. None of the rough and tumble of the vulgus on this occasion! No kissing or hugging!
PNP ISSUES
The PNP also faces some difficult choices. The basic question there is the following: How will they separate out the worthwhile elements in the masses which Simpson Miller attracted, from the lumpen elements which she also attracted? How to subordinate this lumpen? How to separate the gold from the dross and renew the party? That is the difficulty.
The Simpson Miller political phenomenon is a complex one. There are many sides to it - some healthy, others not. If the lesson the PNP draws from this loss is that they must jettison their base among the black and the poor, then they are finished.
On the other hand, the PNP cannot renew itself without forming a partnership with healthy elements in the middle and organised working class in leadership positions.
No party can win or keep power in Jamaica without substantial middle-class support. No party can govern Jamaica without significant middle-class support. If the PNP starts to sulk and turns its back on middle-class moderation, it will also be doomed.
If one looks in greater detail at some of the votes, in the right conditions, the PNP was able to increase its middle-class vote. Trevor Munroe, for example, increased the PNP vote from 35 per cent to 39 per cent in Hope Pastures. In Beverly Hills, the PNP vote rose from 30 per cent in the last election to 42 per cent on Monday.
Peter Bunting ran a brilliant and courageous campaign in Central Manchester. Maxine Henry-Wilson proved that she was not a lady whose tongue could be drawn. All of them demonstrated that the PNP is fully capable of making deep inroads even into the upper-middle classes.
Where do we go from here? We should take a leaf out of the book of our athletes in Osaka, Japan.
Veronica Campbell ran a glorious 100 metres. Maurice Smith was remarkable. He reminded me of Daley Thompson, but with Jamaican attitude.
Our crowning glory was the sprint relays which we lost. Campbell ran an unbelievable anchor leg which set the track ablaze.
Lesson from Asafa
But it was the run by Asafa which was a sight to behold.
Here was a man who, when the time came to perform for his individual glory, by his own admission, panicked. But when his team blundered and he saw disaster staring Jamaica in the face, he fought back like a man possessed. 'Safa' ran his heart out for you and me - for every Jane-woman and Jack-man among us. He would not and did not let us down.
Will our political leadership on both sides learn this lesson? Will the various factions in the JLP allow Golding to follow an Asafa line - the line of selflessness, unity, and patriotic virtue?
Will the PNP leadership, whoever this turns out to be, also take up the challenge of a more constructive politics? The chance is slim but does exist. There is much urgent work to do.
Many are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Dean. The first reaction of the markets to the election result has been a plunge in the dollar.
Persons unknown decided to unleash the dogs of war in some closely contested constituencies. This must never happen again. We must do our utmost to ensure that our new leadership rises to the occasion.
published: Sunday | September 9, 2007
Don Robotham, Contributor
Jamaica Labour Party leader Bruce Golding. - File
In the last two weeks, two major public events have occurred.
Our athletes had a record medal haul at Osaka. Then, the general election came and went. How our athletes performed has many lessons for our political leaders and for the nation as a whole.
In the election, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was the clear victor. Congratulations to our new Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.
It has been an arduous and tortuous journey. Not so long ago, Mr. Golding was being rudely unseated at the swearing in of Portia Simpson Miller.
Such is politics.
But the People's National Party (PNP) has nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, almost everyone is surprised at how close the election was. The JLP won 50.18 per cent of the popular vote to the PNP's 49.82 per cent. This is a difference of just under 0.4 per cent. In absolute terms, a mere 2,940 votes. If 25 votes per constituency had shifted to the other side, the PNP would have won the popular vote last Monday.
Forty per cent of the electorate did not vote for either party. The JLP vote was 30.3 per cent of the total electorate. The PNP obtained 30.1 per cent. Neither side obtained as much as one third of the electorate.
JLP WEAKNESS
The minuscule JLP margin raises troubling questions for them. If, facing a scandal-plagued, tired, divided, 18-year-old PNP govern-ment, and with a multi-billion dollar campaign budget, all the JLP could manage was a 0.36 per cent photo finish, this sends one message loud and clear: Jamaica is PNP country!
The JLP won the debates. They dominated the media. Their political machinery was superb. They worked enthusiastically and stayed on message. Money was no object - the deep pockets of the four blind mice (or was it five?) saw to that.
Their negative ads succeeded in turning voters away from the PNP. But they failed to persuade voters to turn to them en masse. The voter turnout was moderate - only 60.4 per cent. This accounts for the small size of the JLP majority.
Although disaffected with the PNP, when it came to actually entering the voting booth and placing an 'X' beside the bell, thousands could not bring themselves to do it. That bell was too 'red'.
PNP WEAKNESS
In the end, however, it was the weakness of the PNP which proved fatal. The PNP held on to its base, but it alienated a large sector of its traditional middle-class support. Its campaign was too much focused on the personality of 'Sista P'. I am not referring to the upper-middle class here. It's the middle-middle that was the problem - the teachers, nurses and civil servants who are vital for a PNP victory. Alienating them damages the PNP in the organised working class and among many medium and small farmers as well - the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters of many teachers and nurses.
These groups were in two minds about the 'Portia factor'. On the one hand, they were sympathetic to a leader 'from the bowels of the working class'. On the other, they were embarrassed by what they saw as serious weaknesses of leadership.
Many lessons
There are,therefore, many lessons to be learned. The first is that Jamaica cannot be governed without a partnership with the middle class. Jamaica cannot be governed by lording it over the black majority either. No doubt this may be possible in Cayman, or Bermuda, or even in Barbados, for all I know. For sure, this is not an issue in Singapore! But it won't work here in Jamaica, land we love.
Will both sides learn these lessons? Already, Mr. Golding is indicating that he understands these realities. He has been magnanimous to a fault. He has suggested a new "constructive engagement" - an unfortunate phrase borrowed from the pro-apartheid lexicon.
Exactly what Mr. Golding intends is yet to be determined. But he is headed in the right direction. How far, we shall see. Will he have PNP leaders in high positions? No engagement - constructive or otherwise - will be possible if the JLP media machine continues to rub salt into wounds with insulting and condescending statements reeking of class and racial prejudice.
Golding's statesmanlike remarks are at odds with all this crowing and have, therefore, raised quite a few eyebrows among the zealots in the JLP. What is Golding playing at - threatening to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Over their dead body!
From this point of view, if Golding imagines that he is going to impose some kind of wishy-washy National Democratic Movement line on them, after they fought so hard and waited so long, 'Him wrong! It naw go happen!'
Leading lights among the uptown lumpen have already staked out their claim to Cabinet and other high posts. The Seagaites, their fling with 'Sista P' at an end, are ready to rumble. They have discovered a sudden affection for Golding and are jostling for positions.
Other financiers are busy sharing out ministries, ambassadorships, and other plum jobs, left, right and centre. Hurried trips to Miami to replenish wardrobes have been taking place. JLP grandees - wives in the vanguard - are determined that the swearing-in will be a 'red' September to remember. None of the rough and tumble of the vulgus on this occasion! No kissing or hugging!
PNP ISSUES
The PNP also faces some difficult choices. The basic question there is the following: How will they separate out the worthwhile elements in the masses which Simpson Miller attracted, from the lumpen elements which she also attracted? How to subordinate this lumpen? How to separate the gold from the dross and renew the party? That is the difficulty.
The Simpson Miller political phenomenon is a complex one. There are many sides to it - some healthy, others not. If the lesson the PNP draws from this loss is that they must jettison their base among the black and the poor, then they are finished.
On the other hand, the PNP cannot renew itself without forming a partnership with healthy elements in the middle and organised working class in leadership positions.
No party can win or keep power in Jamaica without substantial middle-class support. No party can govern Jamaica without significant middle-class support. If the PNP starts to sulk and turns its back on middle-class moderation, it will also be doomed.
If one looks in greater detail at some of the votes, in the right conditions, the PNP was able to increase its middle-class vote. Trevor Munroe, for example, increased the PNP vote from 35 per cent to 39 per cent in Hope Pastures. In Beverly Hills, the PNP vote rose from 30 per cent in the last election to 42 per cent on Monday.
Peter Bunting ran a brilliant and courageous campaign in Central Manchester. Maxine Henry-Wilson proved that she was not a lady whose tongue could be drawn. All of them demonstrated that the PNP is fully capable of making deep inroads even into the upper-middle classes.
Where do we go from here? We should take a leaf out of the book of our athletes in Osaka, Japan.
Veronica Campbell ran a glorious 100 metres. Maurice Smith was remarkable. He reminded me of Daley Thompson, but with Jamaican attitude.
Our crowning glory was the sprint relays which we lost. Campbell ran an unbelievable anchor leg which set the track ablaze.
Lesson from Asafa
But it was the run by Asafa which was a sight to behold.
Here was a man who, when the time came to perform for his individual glory, by his own admission, panicked. But when his team blundered and he saw disaster staring Jamaica in the face, he fought back like a man possessed. 'Safa' ran his heart out for you and me - for every Jane-woman and Jack-man among us. He would not and did not let us down.
Will our political leadership on both sides learn this lesson? Will the various factions in the JLP allow Golding to follow an Asafa line - the line of selflessness, unity, and patriotic virtue?
Will the PNP leadership, whoever this turns out to be, also take up the challenge of a more constructive politics? The chance is slim but does exist. There is much urgent work to do.
Many are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Dean. The first reaction of the markets to the election result has been a plunge in the dollar.
Persons unknown decided to unleash the dogs of war in some closely contested constituencies. This must never happen again. We must do our utmost to ensure that our new leadership rises to the occasion.
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