I spent last night and most of this morning and afternoon not only reading articles from various news agencies (and more importantly the commentaries by any article’s readers), but also listening to Jamaican talk-radio callers commentary on what they hypothesized happened. Here are a few reasons given why the People’s National Party (PNP) won handily over the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP):
- THE ENTIRE DUDAS/MANATT DEBACLE: (from the Miami Herald) “In late 2009, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding faced a critical decision in his 2-year old administration: Should he hand over reputed drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke to face narcotics and arms trafficking charges in the United States or stonewall. Golding balked and admitted months later to misleading Jamaicans about his efforts to squash the extradition. His eventual decision in May 2011 to comply with the U.S. request set off days of rioting in Coke’s Kingston stronghold that left almost 80 people dead.” This was one of the major incidents that voters never forgave Golding for – he was voted in to promote change and voters saw more-or-less of the same. Not only was the matter handled badly, in times or dire financial need the JLP administration hired the US based Manatt, Phelps and Phillips law-firm with valuable tax-payers money to serve the party’s (not the country’s) best interests….and lied about it.
- ‘YOUNG AND NEW PRIME MINISTER’ ANDREW HOLNESS NOT CONVINCING ENOUGH: I, like many other Jamaicans, were NOT impressed with the qualifications of the “youthful” new prime minister. Nor were they pleased with the way he was selected and shoved on the Jamaican population as the new prime minister by the party officials of the ruling JLP. On top of that Holness failed to provide Jamaicans with a sound and solid vision for Jamaica. Manley had a vision, Seaga had a vision, Obama had a vision, Reagan had a vision, Thatcher had a vision, even the current GOP presidential candidate nutcases each have a vision for their country. Holness? *crickets* Most prime ministers or presidents run for public office because they WANT it; we got the impression that he was pushed in to save the face of the JLP using his “youth” as a selling point; a tactic that failed. Jamaicans went back to familiar territory rather than face an unsure leader. Labourite voters stayed home to show their displeasure at the Holness selection; PNP voters turned out in record number to show theirs.
- TOO MANY RESTRICTIONS FOR A PEOPLE WHO LOVE LIVING WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS: The JLP implemented austerity measures to prop up the economy – cutting jobs, folding to the IMF, etc. Suddenly – Jamaican policemen who were used to making money on the side saw their income cut, public service workers laid off, teachers pressured to go back to school for further certification without any increase in compensation, cuts in social services, enforcing unpopular laws – it just become too much for the happy-go-lucky nature of the Jamaican people. The hard lives of many Jamaicans became even harder – too much for them to bear. They remember the happier times BEFORE the current JLP government - conveniently forgetting the corruption of the previous administration and ignoring the global effects of a worldwide recession – and voted nostalgically. AUSTERITY MEASURES HAS NOT WORKED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD – why should Jamaica suddenly be an exception?
- THE JLP ADMINISTRATION SEEN AS A FAILURE TO HALT RISING COSTS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: Sure – the world recession was not helping an economy wrecked by 18 years of mismanagement (under PJ Patterson). But the electorate wanted results or at least empathy – and got none. A recent example would be the committee to investigate the billing practices of the JPS. They declared they found nothing wrong with the JPS billing system despite the raucous wails about high bills from consumers….AND they had to foot the cost of moving electric meters to their front gates. The government should have looked into subsidizing energy costs or at least rattle their sabers loudly and publicly at the JPS holding company – just ANYTHING to address the issue. Voters were tired that their needs were always being ignored for the betterment of corporations (the parent company of JPS was posting record profits on the backs of poor people). And rising unemployment was not helping.
- WHAT DID THE JLP MPs DO FOR THEIR CONSTITUENTS? Over-and-over another common thread in comments from news readers is that they felt as if they were being treated with disdain. The JLP councilors were not meeting with and/or dealing with the needs of their constituents, the arrogance and perceived elitist attitude of JLP elected officials (for example Daryl Vaz and James Robertson) constantly making the news. Again, people felt they were being ignored in favor of businesses and corporations. Sure – you need to strengthen the business environment to promote a strong economy, but you also have to maintain good relations with the electorate – and they felt they were being ignored.
As someone said - this was not necessarily a PNP win but a vote against a JLP severely tainted by Bruce Golding. However, I say give Prime Minister designate Portia Simpson-Miller a chance – she may have learned a few things in the four years she was leader of the opposition. A glimmer of this to me was a surprising stance she took while campaigning for an election that everyone said she would lose: despite the negative effect it would have on her re-election chances she tackled a very, very, very unpopular issue and said that it was time to do something about it. She brought up the issue of the buggery law of Jamaica and said it was time to review and possibly repeal – much to the chagrin of the ignorant religious zealots that dominate the Jamaican populace. But this move shows that Simpson-Miller heard the threats made by UN, European and American officials that aid by donor countries will cease if recipient countries do not respect the rights of their own GLBT population. She sent a message to the donor countries: message heard and understood.
And at the same time was hinting to Jamaicans that time has come to do things differently. Let’s just see what the future holds.
Despite how you may feel about how the election turned out, or whether your party won or lost, I can only end with the words of our national anthem:
‘Eternal Father bless our land
Guard us with Thy Mighty Hand
Keep us free from evil powers
Be our light through countless hours
To our leaders, Great Defender,
Grant true wisdom from above
Justice, truth be ours, forever,
Jamaica – land we love!
Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica – land we love!”
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