Delroy Scarlett, MCIM, MSc.(dhsscarlett@yahoo.com)

In the absence of extreme ideological differences that existed during the cold war; the increasing numbers of uncommitted voters; and the growing sophistication and political acumen of the Jamaican electorate, political parties in Jamaica are not likely to win by landslide in the near future. It therefore means that the fact that the JLP is faced with a four-seat deficit going into a national election, the party is already at a major disadvantage.

It is clear that the garrison phenomena, has negatively impacted our democracy, since the outcome of an election is not necessarily a fair reflection of the wishes of the electorate. In other words, in this new political dispensation, the political party with the most garrison constituencies is likely to form the government. In fact, the absence of these garrisons could have handed the Jamaica Labour Party state power in the 2002 election. Now we can clearly see how the so-called, ‘demeaned’ and ‘disadvantaged’ of the society are powerful and influential enough to determine the destiny of the so-called ‘enlightened’ and ‘advantaged’ (Professor Obika Grey).

Unfortunately, this power is not known by these residents and therefore was never utilized for their empowerment and advancement. Any wonder why this ‘critical mass’ remains ignorant and dependent? Is this a deliberate strategy on the part of these high profile political enforcers on the ground, to keep their communities dependent and uneducated, as a means of control? And if this is so, shouldn’t the society be outraged about such incivility? Why then blame and chastise some of these JAMAICANS for exhibiting incivility when we stood back and allow power seekers to manipulate a section of our society with impunity? How dare we think we can hold at ransom and deprive thousands of true Jamaican citizens of an opportunity to choose freely and seek upward mobility, without paying a heavy price? Didn’t we expect to be reaping what we (whether through silent conspiracy or acts of our own doing) of have sown?

There are several studies that provide irrefutable evidence that a suppressed and disadvantaged people usually exhibit antisocial and reckless behaviour as a result of decades of built-up anger, hate, hopelessness and depravity. According to the highly respected Harvard Professor, Dr. Julius Wilson (1996), “high levels of serious crime is strongly associated with the high proportion of the population that does not (or is unable to) participate meaningfully in the society, and which consequently shares a disproportionately tiny fraction of the nation's wealth”. He further asserts that mass social and economic disfranchisement is the major source of much serious crime - from formation of warring urban gangs, to acts of wanton violence.” Miserable social and economic conditions make for miserable family life and, consequently, for neglectful parenting, which is the closest link to crime and delinquency in a sequence of other factors. These are the daily realities of garrison constituencies in Jamaica.

Since the PNP wont give away its advantage, albeit an unfair and counter-productive one, and the JLP will be devoid of viable options outside of state power, a meaningful change in the garrison phenomena may be with us for a while longer. However, the obvious questions should be: What will the JLP do to guarantee a fair playing field for future elections? How will they eliminate this disadvantage and ensure fair play? Will the JLP deliberately perpetuate the further “garrison-ization” of constituencies with a view to at least match the PNP’s six? Or will the party, with the support of the rest of the society, pressure the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) and the government to dismantle the current garrison constituencies on both sides? Will the JLP agitate for constitutional changes to reduce the cap on the number of electorates per constituency with a view to increase the number of constituencies? And importantly, how will the party induce and mobilize the uncommitted voters to support the JLP and hence nullify the impact of the garrison deficit that could provide enough swing to oust the PNP government?

From the foregoing, it seems quite clear that the JLP has a major challenge on its hands, the solution of which, though necessary, may lead to further internal party disruptions surrounding the method(s) of choice to address the garrison issue. The issue at stake here is quite huge; after all, it is about state power – the ultimate goal of most well intention political parties. This issue must therefore be publicly debated among the electorate, the Electoral Advisory Committee – who must play a critical role, and both political parties to find a workable solution to this garrison demon. The exorcise of which could give the JLP an opportunity to compete fairly for state leadership and therefore restore credibility to our manipulated electoral process.

However, most importantly, the dismantling of garrisons, as a start, would allow a vast amount of Jamaicans to start hoping and believing again in the political process and their country. This will give the constituents the impetus and the freedom to pursue educational and job opportunities instead of ignorance and dependence; participation and progress instead of control and stagnation, happiness and fulfillment, instead of misery and hopelessness, and empowerment instead of powerlessness. Isn’t this the political ideal and goal of political parties? For the sake of our people, democracy and the credibility of our electoral process, we would hope for a re-energized and refocused JLP, among pressing matters, to attend to the business of the garrison phenomena in Jamaica with much alacrity and commitment.

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