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.

Now That I Have Your Attention

Madam Prime Minister, I have been imagining a scene in which we met again in the laundry products section of my supermarket, and like the last time, I had your attention. So, now that I have your attention, here are my thoughts. I hope you find some counsel in my words, but if you don't; please note that I mean well, and I ask that you take my words as graciously as I know you are able.

Let's start with the size of the cabinet for, like many, I too raised my eyebrows. After all, 2007 really wasn't so long ago and my memory is still fresh. I admit it, I have Google to thank for "keeping" some of those memories safe but I do recall you being very strident about the size of Bruce Golding's cabinet (remember this nugget from the Gleaner http://t.co/h0tZari?). It's hard to stave off the cynicism that lingers just below the surface but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. In exchange, I’ll take a commitment from you to trim the size of the cabinet at the end of your first 18 months. On the up side, I like the succession planning direction I think you're going in but it won't mean much if there aren't meaningful changes in the medium term.

I think I should tell you that I found the caricature of you in the G2K advertising campaign distasteful (at best), and it wasn't aimed at me; lady you are as strong as they come. On second thoughts, it might as well have been aimed at me for; I slept on the bench at the foot of the bed, in one of two rooms of a wooden house, in which my grandmother helped to raise at least a dozen of us. The odds of making it into the middle class weren’t in my favour. It was aimed at my mother who didn't learn to speak "properly" until she went to England to become a nurse and, whilst there nurtured her passion for reading. It was aimed at my sisters who have spent their entire working lives as teachers in the public school system; the eldest one just opted for early retirement after feeling put upon one time too many, by the last administration. It was aimed at every little dark-skinned girl from a working class home, below the Clock who dares to dream big. I also think that the ads served as deterrent to women in general of all hues who would think to run for public office.

Now we won't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but on the big things I hope we agree. I believe that the elected government sits at the pleasure of all the people, and is bound by the country's Constitution and its body of laws to govern in the people's very best interest. I believe that the government has, as its primary functions:

1. the maintenance of law and order, the security of the citizens and the assets held in public trust,
2. the administration of the same standard of justice for those who have much and nothing at all,
3. the management of the public treasury with an equitable system of taxation and an open account of the public funds,
4. the provision of key public goods and services, and the maintenance of public infrastructure, financed by the taxes we should all pay; each to his means,
5. the provision of a safety net for those who are unable, disabled or incapable of making it on their own, especially the very young and the very old and,
6. to build and maintain positive relationships with the rest of the world.

No I don't believe that it is the government's role to provide jobs but I do believe that the government should employ the most competent in the delivery of those key goods and services. Unfortunately too many people fail to recognize the public sector beyond the civil service and seem not to accept that teachers, police personnel, fire fighters, public transportation workers, nurses and doctors in the public healthcare system, among others, are a necessary part of the public sector.

The rest should be placed in the private sector through a robust and transparent system of public contracting or otherwise consolidated in a few must-have public agencies. For example, there is no reason for the government to collect money; ask JPS, Digicel, Lime, the United States embassy, and a host of other entities. Even the RGD managed to divest itself of that temptation by reducing cash transactions and, the introduction of online payments by the Jamaica Customs department was a very progressive move back then. Why not have the insurance companies manage the fitness certification process for motor vehicles? The Electoral Office of Jamaica has managed to provide voter identification cards for millions of Jamaicans, why not shift drivers' license production there? Just a few suggestions for you.

In the end Madam Prime Minister, I really am cheering for you, my success as a Jamaican is linked to yours. Next time we meet maybe we can discuss and agree on what success looks like. You see, I have no green card or dual citizenship. I was born here, educated here and have achieved moderate success here, regardless of which party is in government. I do not cheat, lie or steal. I treat my fellow human beings with the respect and courtesy that I wish for myself. I do not abuse the generosity of others and I pay my fair share of taxes. I cannot therefore hold you to any lower standards.

Good luck, it'll be a hard row to hoe.

Nuff blessings,

M