Tweet
Time to defeat the lumpen - Why were they left out of Senate appointments?
published: Sunday | September 30, 2007
Don Robotham, Contributor
Morris, Mottley and Munroe
The back and forth around the two seats in Hanover and St. Mary and the court cases brought around dual citizenship have stimulated public concern. The fact that only 59 MPs were available to be sworn in for the opening of Parliament speaks volumes.
At its core this is a political not a constitutional problem. The political problem is this: PNP zealots refuse to accept that the JLP has won the elections. The problem is the influence of the lumpen over the political leadership of the PNP. The problem also is this - some well-known PNP personalities from the middle class are encouraging this destructiveness.
Over a period of 18 years, a lumpen army, large and small, has come to be dependent on the state for contracts, board appointments, jobs, security protection, insider information, contacts and privileges. Retaining control over the state is a matter of life and death for them. They cannot give it up just because of a vote. They must fight to the finish with whatever means necessary.
This is the real reason for the court cases on dual citizenship. They are one tactic in a secret war that this lumpen army is waging. The absurd PNP appointments to the Senate are a second tactic: they are a further reflection of the persistence of this destructive mentality. The appointment of K.D. Knight, Basil Waite and Mark Golding is a transparent attempt to obscure reality. When persons such as Floyd Morris, Donna Scott-Mottley and Trevor Munroe are summarily discarded and replaced by bridesmaids, the message is loud and clear. The lumpen are in command.
JUDICIAL STRATAGEMS
Further, an intention has been declared not to bother to appoint a Shadow Cabinet. This will be the third tactic of the lumpen. The point of this one is to weaken that part of the PNP which supports Peter Phillips and Maxine Henry-Wilson.
For the moment, the PNP is cooing that if they win in the courts, they will be magnanimous. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they say, they will not push to recover power for themselves. Instead they would go for fresh elections. A promise is a comfort to a fool. That is the song being sung now by naive PNP legal luminaries who have to justify their pusillanimity to themselves. But what is the song which will be sung later, if the PNP actually wins in the courts? We must understand the games which the lumpen are playing and deal with them pre-emptively.
We must make it clear to the lumpen hard core and their opportunistic supporters in the middle class, that no matter what the outcome in the courts, they will not be allowed to re-take power by backdoor judicial means. This is the fundamental point to maintain at all times.
For consider the political consequences of pursuing the judicial challenges. If, for example the PNP were to succeed in unseating Shahine Robinson, Daryl Vaz or Gregory Mair then the people of St. Ann north-eastern, Portland western and St. Catherine north-eastern would have been disenfranchised by a legalistic manoeuvre. How would these 23,533 persons who voted JLP and the entire JLP mass base react? They must take to the streets and vigorously too. There will be counter-mobilisations on the PNP side. Very severe social and political instability could ensue.
LEGAL CHALLENGES
What happens if the legal challenges result in a 30-30 draw? What legal rights does the Governor General possess to intervene? Will the old government simply continue, even though, with the Speaker excluded, they would in fact be in the minority? How will it be determined who has 'the confidence' of a majority of the House?
No one has been able to offer convincing answers to such questions. If, for example, the Governor General were to rely on the majority vote and on this basis confirm Mr. Golding as Prime Minister, enormous legal and political consequences could follow. It would drag the Governor General into the arena of partisan political contestation for the first time in our modern history. This has the potential to shake the legitimacy of our political system to its very foundations.
This is where lumpen intransigence mixed with legalistic hypocrisy and blind egoism threatens to drag us. They are bent on bringing down the whole house on our heads if necessary to keep power.
POLITICAL SOLUTION
The key to finding a solution is to approach the problem politically, not just judicially.
The first thing is for Mr. Golding to strengthen himself with the political centre. His Senate appointment of Mrs. Hyacinth Bennett is an excellent start but more is needed. He must intensify his efforts to retain highly respected PNP professionals who are willing to work with the Government. They must be made to understand that their services are valued and that the new government genuinely welcomes them on board.
The moves to eliminate transfer taxes and to resolve delays in the plan approval process are heading in the right direction. The effort to address police brutality - a very difficult matter - must be continued. Mr. Golding must persist with his moderate and statesmanlike tone. Above all, he must take up the youth question seriously, as I have been advocating repeatedly. This can be done initially without necessarily placing a huge additional charge on the budget.
The point of all of this is to strengthen the new government in the middle ground and to isolate the PNP lumpen and their middle class supporters in their small noisy corner. JLP supporters must show understanding of these realities and stop crowding Mr. Golding. He needs more room to manoeuvre.
The more the PNP lumpen are isolated, the less their judicial games matter. Fight them hard in the courts but defeat them politically. What will they be able to do with this so-called victory in a political climate which is overwhelmingly hostile to them? Not one thing!
Once Mr. Golding begins to accumulate political forces from the centre on his side, then the game is up for the PNP lumpen and those 'hardears' members of the PNP middle class who opportunistically support them. Mr. Golding can now return to the polls with confidence and beat the lumpen and their backers into submission twice!
This is not just a matter of local government elections. He has to think more broadly. He may have to either call fresh general elections or have a series of by-elections in the affected constituencies. The PNP is broke, disunited and cannot fight fresh elections of any kind. They will be wiped out. The fresh elections may have to be sooner than either Mr. Golding or the nation may wish. But the country should support him in this endeavour. It is a small price to pay to defeat the lumpen leadership of the PNP once and for all.
The road to social stability is a political road. The sensible elements in the PNP are unable or unwilling to subordinate the lumpen. So the country has to do it for them. It is not that there are no lumpen in the JLP because they are many. The crucial difference however is this: the lumpen do not control the JLP leadership.
One of the awful heritages of the Patterson years is the decay of the PNP. It is a shadow of its former self, scorning its tradition of positive social development and in the grip of the lumpen. As the PNP presidential elections proved, the lumpen cleverly exploit the ambitions of some members of the PNP middle class in order to divide and rule.
No country can progress under the leadership of the lumpen. Decades of economic stagnation has meant that these social strata have become a pervasive force in our political, economic and cultural life. Their nefarious influence is the crux of our values and attitudes problem. They are the reason why our corruption rating has fallen some 23 places in a single year which must be a world record! We have to defeat the lumpen politically, economically, socially and culturally, in whichever space they rear their heads. Some elements in the PNP middle class are playing footsie with them. Mr. Golding has to fix this, for the good of the PNP, and of Jamaica.
published: Sunday | September 30, 2007
Don Robotham, Contributor
Morris, Mottley and Munroe
The back and forth around the two seats in Hanover and St. Mary and the court cases brought around dual citizenship have stimulated public concern. The fact that only 59 MPs were available to be sworn in for the opening of Parliament speaks volumes.
At its core this is a political not a constitutional problem. The political problem is this: PNP zealots refuse to accept that the JLP has won the elections. The problem is the influence of the lumpen over the political leadership of the PNP. The problem also is this - some well-known PNP personalities from the middle class are encouraging this destructiveness.
Over a period of 18 years, a lumpen army, large and small, has come to be dependent on the state for contracts, board appointments, jobs, security protection, insider information, contacts and privileges. Retaining control over the state is a matter of life and death for them. They cannot give it up just because of a vote. They must fight to the finish with whatever means necessary.
This is the real reason for the court cases on dual citizenship. They are one tactic in a secret war that this lumpen army is waging. The absurd PNP appointments to the Senate are a second tactic: they are a further reflection of the persistence of this destructive mentality. The appointment of K.D. Knight, Basil Waite and Mark Golding is a transparent attempt to obscure reality. When persons such as Floyd Morris, Donna Scott-Mottley and Trevor Munroe are summarily discarded and replaced by bridesmaids, the message is loud and clear. The lumpen are in command.
JUDICIAL STRATAGEMS
Further, an intention has been declared not to bother to appoint a Shadow Cabinet. This will be the third tactic of the lumpen. The point of this one is to weaken that part of the PNP which supports Peter Phillips and Maxine Henry-Wilson.
For the moment, the PNP is cooing that if they win in the courts, they will be magnanimous. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they say, they will not push to recover power for themselves. Instead they would go for fresh elections. A promise is a comfort to a fool. That is the song being sung now by naive PNP legal luminaries who have to justify their pusillanimity to themselves. But what is the song which will be sung later, if the PNP actually wins in the courts? We must understand the games which the lumpen are playing and deal with them pre-emptively.
We must make it clear to the lumpen hard core and their opportunistic supporters in the middle class, that no matter what the outcome in the courts, they will not be allowed to re-take power by backdoor judicial means. This is the fundamental point to maintain at all times.
For consider the political consequences of pursuing the judicial challenges. If, for example the PNP were to succeed in unseating Shahine Robinson, Daryl Vaz or Gregory Mair then the people of St. Ann north-eastern, Portland western and St. Catherine north-eastern would have been disenfranchised by a legalistic manoeuvre. How would these 23,533 persons who voted JLP and the entire JLP mass base react? They must take to the streets and vigorously too. There will be counter-mobilisations on the PNP side. Very severe social and political instability could ensue.
LEGAL CHALLENGES
What happens if the legal challenges result in a 30-30 draw? What legal rights does the Governor General possess to intervene? Will the old government simply continue, even though, with the Speaker excluded, they would in fact be in the minority? How will it be determined who has 'the confidence' of a majority of the House?
No one has been able to offer convincing answers to such questions. If, for example, the Governor General were to rely on the majority vote and on this basis confirm Mr. Golding as Prime Minister, enormous legal and political consequences could follow. It would drag the Governor General into the arena of partisan political contestation for the first time in our modern history. This has the potential to shake the legitimacy of our political system to its very foundations.
This is where lumpen intransigence mixed with legalistic hypocrisy and blind egoism threatens to drag us. They are bent on bringing down the whole house on our heads if necessary to keep power.
POLITICAL SOLUTION
The key to finding a solution is to approach the problem politically, not just judicially.
The first thing is for Mr. Golding to strengthen himself with the political centre. His Senate appointment of Mrs. Hyacinth Bennett is an excellent start but more is needed. He must intensify his efforts to retain highly respected PNP professionals who are willing to work with the Government. They must be made to understand that their services are valued and that the new government genuinely welcomes them on board.
The moves to eliminate transfer taxes and to resolve delays in the plan approval process are heading in the right direction. The effort to address police brutality - a very difficult matter - must be continued. Mr. Golding must persist with his moderate and statesmanlike tone. Above all, he must take up the youth question seriously, as I have been advocating repeatedly. This can be done initially without necessarily placing a huge additional charge on the budget.
The point of all of this is to strengthen the new government in the middle ground and to isolate the PNP lumpen and their middle class supporters in their small noisy corner. JLP supporters must show understanding of these realities and stop crowding Mr. Golding. He needs more room to manoeuvre.
The more the PNP lumpen are isolated, the less their judicial games matter. Fight them hard in the courts but defeat them politically. What will they be able to do with this so-called victory in a political climate which is overwhelmingly hostile to them? Not one thing!
Once Mr. Golding begins to accumulate political forces from the centre on his side, then the game is up for the PNP lumpen and those 'hardears' members of the PNP middle class who opportunistically support them. Mr. Golding can now return to the polls with confidence and beat the lumpen and their backers into submission twice!
This is not just a matter of local government elections. He has to think more broadly. He may have to either call fresh general elections or have a series of by-elections in the affected constituencies. The PNP is broke, disunited and cannot fight fresh elections of any kind. They will be wiped out. The fresh elections may have to be sooner than either Mr. Golding or the nation may wish. But the country should support him in this endeavour. It is a small price to pay to defeat the lumpen leadership of the PNP once and for all.
The road to social stability is a political road. The sensible elements in the PNP are unable or unwilling to subordinate the lumpen. So the country has to do it for them. It is not that there are no lumpen in the JLP because they are many. The crucial difference however is this: the lumpen do not control the JLP leadership.
One of the awful heritages of the Patterson years is the decay of the PNP. It is a shadow of its former self, scorning its tradition of positive social development and in the grip of the lumpen. As the PNP presidential elections proved, the lumpen cleverly exploit the ambitions of some members of the PNP middle class in order to divide and rule.
No country can progress under the leadership of the lumpen. Decades of economic stagnation has meant that these social strata have become a pervasive force in our political, economic and cultural life. Their nefarious influence is the crux of our values and attitudes problem. They are the reason why our corruption rating has fallen some 23 places in a single year which must be a world record! We have to defeat the lumpen politically, economically, socially and culturally, in whichever space they rear their heads. Some elements in the PNP middle class are playing footsie with them. Mr. Golding has to fix this, for the good of the PNP, and of Jamaica.
Comment