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Who remembers what?
Michael Burke
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Twenty-seven years ago, come October 30, the People's National Party was massively defeated by the Jamaica Labour Party. After eight years and eight months, Michael Manley gave way to Edward Seaga who became prime minister. The JLP won 51 seats and the PNP won nine. The JLP received over 502,000 votes and the PNP some 350,000.
The first strategy of the PNP after the 1980 defeat was to refrain from commenting on most things for a year. One Gleaner columnist wrote that the silence was deafening. And the strategy worked. Without harsh criticisms coming from the PNP, the public (read voters) started to do it. And it worked in the PNP's favour.
I understand that Portia Simpson Miller is not given to reading much history, if any. But in this case she was there. She was one of the nine PNP MPs who won a seat in Parliament in 1980. Does she remember the silence strategy? And don't tell me that these are different times. If anyone advances the argument that times were different then, and different times require a strategy of confrontation from day one in Opposition, I say you are talking nonsense.
I know that Danny Buchanan will say it is not his fault that he talks, because the media is always asking for his comments. But he can say, "No comment", sometimes. Had Portia Simpson Miller given a different type of speech at the PNP conference, there would be nothing for Bruce Golding to use as a "strike back".
When the JLP won in 1980, they came into power saying that Jamaica had absolutely no financial reserves and that they won in the nick of time to save Jamaica from economic ruin. This time around they state that Jamaica owes $1 trillion. It is the same old strategy being employed as a build-up for an excuse not to carry out all the promises made in its manifesto. At any rate, that is how I read it. But again, who remembers?
When Michael Manley became prime minister in 1972, he named a 19-member Cabinet. Before the 1980 election, it was reduced to 13. When Edward Seaga became prime minister, he named a large Cabinet. Perhaps because we had only two radio stations and one TV station at the time, Edward Seaga's large Cabinet went unnoticed, especially coming after the previous Cabinet which had been reduced to 13. Also in 1993 when Patterson had been prime minister for a year and won the election, his Cabinet was large.
Why is it that so many in the media talk as if it is a first-time thing? There are many reasons why a new prime minister would name a large Cabinet. First, the new prime minister might not be too sure of the capabilities of the new parliamentarians. Second, the matter of long-service awards might be criticised, but they are done for political survival.
Take, for instance, the appointment of three Bustamante Industrial Trade Union stalwarts. I could never tell you the rationale for it, but I can hazard a guess. The BITU is one of the pillars upon which the JLP stands. Indeed, in the first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944, the JLP was only a party label for the BITU which was the real winner of the 1944 elections. In a real way, the BITU gave birth to the PNP.
In any case, Pearnel Charles is tried, tested and proven, where efficiency is concerned. He is a former minister having served in the 1980s. And Dwight Nelson has served the BITU and the JLP very well. Still unity in the JLP is fragile, especially as the post-Seaga healing process is really only two years since.
Every prime minister has to do this sort of balancing act. If political power is a table top, then certain key people in the political process are the legs. And it is always advisable to take care of table legs, for not to do so will cause the table top to be ground-surface high. I hope you can see the political analogy in this. But it always happens.
Why on earth do so many have amnesia when it comes to politics? I know that not everyone has a good memory, but this is really a sort of collective amnesia on the part of so many analysts and media personnel. And to tell the truth, I find it annoying.
The first two ministers without portfolio in Jamaica were Rudolph Burke and Douglas Fletcher. Both served in the PNP government led by Norman Manley. In many governments since that time there have been ministers without portfolio. Like myself and my brother Paul Burke, James Robertson is a grandson of the late Rudolph Burke, one of the two first-ever ministers without portfolio. I believe Bruce Golding remembers that.
And now a whole lot of analysts who are either ignorant or have amnesia have been asking what is a minister without portfolio, as if it is something new. Who remembers anything? Why do so many seem to have amnesia? I am not a doctor, but could it be the diet?
Michael Burke
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Twenty-seven years ago, come October 30, the People's National Party was massively defeated by the Jamaica Labour Party. After eight years and eight months, Michael Manley gave way to Edward Seaga who became prime minister. The JLP won 51 seats and the PNP won nine. The JLP received over 502,000 votes and the PNP some 350,000.
The first strategy of the PNP after the 1980 defeat was to refrain from commenting on most things for a year. One Gleaner columnist wrote that the silence was deafening. And the strategy worked. Without harsh criticisms coming from the PNP, the public (read voters) started to do it. And it worked in the PNP's favour.
I understand that Portia Simpson Miller is not given to reading much history, if any. But in this case she was there. She was one of the nine PNP MPs who won a seat in Parliament in 1980. Does she remember the silence strategy? And don't tell me that these are different times. If anyone advances the argument that times were different then, and different times require a strategy of confrontation from day one in Opposition, I say you are talking nonsense.
I know that Danny Buchanan will say it is not his fault that he talks, because the media is always asking for his comments. But he can say, "No comment", sometimes. Had Portia Simpson Miller given a different type of speech at the PNP conference, there would be nothing for Bruce Golding to use as a "strike back".
When the JLP won in 1980, they came into power saying that Jamaica had absolutely no financial reserves and that they won in the nick of time to save Jamaica from economic ruin. This time around they state that Jamaica owes $1 trillion. It is the same old strategy being employed as a build-up for an excuse not to carry out all the promises made in its manifesto. At any rate, that is how I read it. But again, who remembers?
When Michael Manley became prime minister in 1972, he named a 19-member Cabinet. Before the 1980 election, it was reduced to 13. When Edward Seaga became prime minister, he named a large Cabinet. Perhaps because we had only two radio stations and one TV station at the time, Edward Seaga's large Cabinet went unnoticed, especially coming after the previous Cabinet which had been reduced to 13. Also in 1993 when Patterson had been prime minister for a year and won the election, his Cabinet was large.
Why is it that so many in the media talk as if it is a first-time thing? There are many reasons why a new prime minister would name a large Cabinet. First, the new prime minister might not be too sure of the capabilities of the new parliamentarians. Second, the matter of long-service awards might be criticised, but they are done for political survival.
Take, for instance, the appointment of three Bustamante Industrial Trade Union stalwarts. I could never tell you the rationale for it, but I can hazard a guess. The BITU is one of the pillars upon which the JLP stands. Indeed, in the first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944, the JLP was only a party label for the BITU which was the real winner of the 1944 elections. In a real way, the BITU gave birth to the PNP.
In any case, Pearnel Charles is tried, tested and proven, where efficiency is concerned. He is a former minister having served in the 1980s. And Dwight Nelson has served the BITU and the JLP very well. Still unity in the JLP is fragile, especially as the post-Seaga healing process is really only two years since.
Every prime minister has to do this sort of balancing act. If political power is a table top, then certain key people in the political process are the legs. And it is always advisable to take care of table legs, for not to do so will cause the table top to be ground-surface high. I hope you can see the political analogy in this. But it always happens.
Why on earth do so many have amnesia when it comes to politics? I know that not everyone has a good memory, but this is really a sort of collective amnesia on the part of so many analysts and media personnel. And to tell the truth, I find it annoying.
The first two ministers without portfolio in Jamaica were Rudolph Burke and Douglas Fletcher. Both served in the PNP government led by Norman Manley. In many governments since that time there have been ministers without portfolio. Like myself and my brother Paul Burke, James Robertson is a grandson of the late Rudolph Burke, one of the two first-ever ministers without portfolio. I believe Bruce Golding remembers that.
And now a whole lot of analysts who are either ignorant or have amnesia have been asking what is a minister without portfolio, as if it is something new. Who remembers anything? Why do so many seem to have amnesia? I am not a doctor, but could it be the diet?
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