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Can the JLP win the next General Elections?

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

Things are beginning to heat up in Jamaica’s politics. The ruling People’s National Party (PNP) which has been in power since 1989, is about to have a change of leader. That leadership race has been getting pretty nasty as of late. The opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which recently ended its party leader race (outside of court, by the way) is trying to gather all the public support it can to win the next general elections. However, can the JLP really win?

It has been said that the JLP has managed to achieve the feat of remaining in opposition for almost seventeen years due to the presence of its former leader – Edward Seaga. It was said that he was the best political weapon the PNP could ever want – in keeping the JLP out of power. When Mr. Seaga left, many in the PNP began to worry and many in the JLP were happy – secretly, of course.

JLP Leader

Bruce Golding

These gentlemen seem to be nothing but talkers...

JLP Finance Spokesperson

Audley Shaw

When the current leader of the JLP took over, almost a year ago, he was seen as a breath of fresh air. Gone are the days of the “one-man-band”. Gone are the days when the party leader would insult dissenting members (the wet-rat running to a sinking ship and the ones who represent the past were good ones) publicly. Gone are the days when the JLP was seen as a soap opera better than the young and the restless. Gone are the days when the JLP was seen as a good joke. Gone are those days. Or are they really gone?

Party leader, Bruce Golding has been saying a lot recently. Indeed, his party has been saying a lot, but must people don’t take what the other members, apart from Mr. Golding, say seriously. There can be very little doubt that Jamaica is in a very tight spot. The JLP, or should I say Mr. Golding, has been trying to give the impression that he has all the answers to Jamaica’s problems. However, one has to seriously wonder if the JLP is a real alternative.

He plans to start a campaign to get as much foreign investments as possible into Jamaica. He says that he will not wait until he wins the next General Elections (he is very sure of this) – he has already begun. However, wouldn’t it be fair to say that the present PNP government has been trying to do just that and has not been too successful? What will Mr. Golding be doing differently?

The nation’s crime problem continues to be a major problem – for everything. The economy continues to suffer greatly, on account of the country’s worsening crime crisis. Mr. Golding has no power to do anything substantive to address this crisis. How then does he expect to attract foreign investors to invest their money in a war zone? Many people, including many members of the JLP, are under the strange illusion that crime will cease the minute Mr. Golding – the messiah, is swept into power. They can continue fooling themselves.

Mr. Golding has not said much about the deteriorating state of the thinking of the Jamaican people. Many of our people, especially our young males, are being transformed into wild beasts. The social conditions have deteriorated to the point where aggressiveness and ignorance is seen as the norm. This is being cemented into the minds of our young people. Mr. Golding wants to get rid of crime and violence, but he doesn’t want to address the root cause of the problem – the negative socialization of our people. This government clearly doesn’t want to do anything and it seems that the JLP doesn’t want to either.

The JLP, in particular its spokesman for finance, Mr. Audley Shaw, has a very unique talent for uncovering scandals. Mr. Audley Shaw, who can hereafter be called Sherlock Holmes, has been doing a lot to uncover one scandal after another. He has not been too good, however, at putting forward real solutions.

Through him, the JLP has been urging the PNP-lead government to borrow money at cheaper rates. The JLP claims that with these cheaper loans, the government would have more money to spend towards national development. Now, either of two things can be true – either the government can get the cheaper funds but it does not because its leaders are very stupid or it can’t get the cheaper funds and Mr. Shaw, who is in parliament and should be fully aware of this, is not doing his job, but instead searching for more scandals. Indeed, if the latter is true, then Mr. Shaw would have surprised no one: he would be doing what he does best – talk a lot!

The JLP is still not aware that while, like the PNP, it can get a lot of people to attend conferences and shout approval without thinking, not everybody in Jamaica is that daft. We are too accustomed to leaders who talk way too much, but do way too little. The JLP is claiming to offer us something new, but it seems that all it really has to offer are more talkers. If the JLP continues being so irrelevant, then the Jamaican people will continue to refuse to see it as a real alternative. The JLP needs to grow up – the rest of us have.

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