Political Party Renewal

 

Photo credit - Google

 

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” Lao Tzu

I’ve been watching and listening to the current Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leadership challenge fracas, as keenly as I did that of the People’s National Party (PNP); back when Mrs. Simpson-Miller had her turn. My conclusion then is the same now, both parties could benefit from an extraordinary change in culture which will give more eligible Jamaican voters a solid reason to engage in the political process. It won’t be easy and it will take time.

Start by changing the party's constitution to impose term limits; that way challenges will not be to the sitting leader, unless he/she is completely inept, corrupt or otherwise. Term limits will ensure that there is always healthy competition at the second tier and that the organization maintains a robust leadership pipeline; a consistent flow of new ideas. It prevents stagnation and atrophy whilst warding of the onset of an entitlement syndrome. Try it, you'll like it and it will send a powerful signal that the party really wants to renew itself.





Andrew Holness
Opposition & JLP Leader
Photo credit - Google





Our political leaders ought not to serve at their leisure; they’re not lifers occupying a jail cell, passing time. How dare they make what should be a healthy competition into a fight for scraps! On the one hand we have a hand-picked parvenu whose claim to fame is youth; as if good ideas are the exclusive purview of the young. On the other hand we have another whose claim to fame is experience; as if we don’t know that there’s a marked difference between a year’s experience repeated ten times and ten years’ experience. Who cares? Too few, and that’s the crux of the matter.

Audley Shaw
Photo credit - Google

 

Should you even care? Absolutely, because ours is a Westminster modeled democracy which requires an intelligent and useful opposition to temper the excesses of any overbearing party in government. The fact is that, as a nation, we generally do not care. You don’t have to take my word for it the data can be found on the Electoral Office of Jamaica’s website but just in case you can’t be bothered, I’ve plucked some out for you. Stare at them and make what you will of them but I’ll wager you’ll come back to the same place and ask why can’t we consistently engage at least 70% of voting age citizens? I can’t prove it, but I’m convinced leadership has something to do with it.

 

Year	Total Electorate	% Votes Cast	% PNP	% JLP
1944	663,069	58.70	23.50	41.40
1949	732,217	65.20	43.50	42.70
1955	761,238	65.12	50.50	39.03
1959	853,539	66.09	54.80	44.30
1962*	796,540	72.88	48.59	50.04
1967	543,307	82.24	49.08	50.65
1972	605,662	78.88	56.36	43.40
1980*	990,417	86.91	40.67	58.34
1983*	990,586	29.48	00.00	88.02
1989	1,078,760	78.38	56.03	42.89
1993	1,002,599	60.28	59.40	39.05
1997	1,182,294	65.22	55.74	38.57
2002	1,301,334	59.04	51.59	46.92
2007	1,336,307	61.46	49.35	49.97
2011	1,648,036	53.17	53.00	46.30

How telling is it that in its 75 years the People's National Party has only had 4 leaders with the first two having 54 years between them and by the way, they were father and son? And as for the JLP, don’t think your 6 leaders in 70 years is anything to celebrate; with both Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer having acted as leaders. More telling is the fact that between Alexander Bustamante and Edward Seaga they served as party leaders for a combined 61 of the party’s 70 years. Should we even wonder why the party is where it is today?

I can only hope that after the dust settles it would have been worth the mudslinging and maybe, just maybe the party can become a real opposition. I won’t hold my breath though for I’m neither suicidal nor naïve.

Thanks to Ms. Dionne Jackson-Miller (@djmillerJA) for pointing out that Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer acted, which may not count.