Nation-building and violence WRITING THIS week about anything other than the violence and mayhem sweeping sections of the country is going to look irrelevant. What else is news? What else can possibly be of interest to people whose lives have been sharply disrupted again. But I have no heart for writing on this insistent theme. We have been there too many times. We will be going there again in a sickening cycle of violence, death and destruction unless... Like the general-secretary of the PNP, speaking after Mr. Seaga on the Breakfast Club on Monday morning while the guns barked and the roads were blocked, I feel depressed. Maxine and Eddie are part of the reason for my depression. I use the two only as clashing symbols of a political culture which is an instrument of violence, death and destruction, rather than of peace, order and prosperity. Mrs. Henry-Wilson proposed that the nation needs "several words of prayer". Even as this charming voice of political impotence spoke, church leaders were picking their way through roadblocks to "a day of fasting, prayer and discussion on the way forward for our nation in this time of crisis." Little did Pastor Al Miller and the other convenors know, as they planned this "Solemn Assembly", that the forces of Evil would make this time such a forceful and deadly manifestation of "The Crisis". Mr. Seaga has refused to speak to Dr. Omar Davies about finding solutions to the violence engulfing the warring neighbouring constituencies. He wants, however, to meet with the Prime Minister, with the PSOJ as mediator, to seek a lifting of the siege of Tivoli by the security forces. The numbing recurrence of negotiations, peace treaties and the like in an allegedly civilised, democratic country has blinded us to their raw obscenity and futility. The people on the roadblocks were out, they said, in solidarity with their besieged compatriots in West Kingston and to flush the Patterson PNP Government out of power. Some analysts believe the violence and the security operations targeting Tivoli Gardens are intended to 'demonise' Edward Seaga whose JLP is well ahead in the polls and to secure a fourth term for the PNP which the electorate is not prepared to give without overwhelming persuasion. Mr. Seaga believes and loudly advocates this. The PNP says, having turned the corner for economic growth after 10 years of trying why would we want to mash up the place with violence? In a situation where lies, innuendos, charges and counter-charges are flying faster and thicker than the bullets, a few things are clear: The politics/violence link is 'standing firm', despite lying announcements of its death. Politics is more important than economics. And economics is more important than the security and well-being of the population in the present scheme of things, never mind the absurdity of the sequence of priorities. Listen to the rhetoric. Scoring political points, with two eyes on the next elections, is what matters most. The economic damage of violence and the negative impact of overseas reportage is what is worried about most. It should not escape us that Mr. Seaga, having roughly dismissed the 'Church' as lacking credibility and therefore relevance has embraced the PSOJ as the mediator of choice in the current outbreak of 'The War' which his party, under his leadership, and the PNP have been fighting since the middle-1970s. The catastrophic costs in terms of human deprivation and suffering, up front and down the road, have not sufficiently concerned us. To more and more citizens of goodwill, it is becoming increasingly clear that neither political party has the answers to the nation's problems. The 'down with P.J.' demonstrators and the 'is Eddie time now' demonstrators are dwindling minorities, separately or together. The majority seems to be attempting the impossible task of dismissing politics and disengaging from something which intrudes into, and rules, every nook and cranny of our lives. Crises offer opportunities for radical new things. In the face of the highest body count from a single upheaval and with the stench in our nostrils from decomposing bodies lying in the streets unrecoverable under gunfire, it is time to consider how we might do things differently. The call for a constitutional government of national unity has now moved up from a fringe idea to becoming one of large and urgent consideration. It is not without international precedent. The events of the last few days have made it clear that the nation can, and has been sacrificed, in the competition for political power. These events have demonstrated yet again that there is also a destructive balance of power on the ground which has proven to be unalterable by violence, or by buying favours through hand-outs. Placing the interest of the nation first may require the structured suspension of some elements of that competition for critical political co-operation around key objectives of national reconstruction. This process can be mediated by organisations of civil society which have broader and deeper constituencies of support than the political parties. If there is no transcendent vision and purpose to hold us together we cannot be a nation. The events of the last few days will therefore continue to repeat themselves with sickening regularity, while peace, order, prosperity and development remain elusive dreams. The security forces have emerged as the enemy in some quarters, and perhaps with great and good justification. Part of what is deeply wrong with Jamaica is the impossibility of proper policing in a heavily armed, high-violence, tribalised society. Our political leaders bear a massive burden of responsibility in sending our brave young men and women in uniform to go out and bleed and die in an unwinnable war created largely by dirty politics and corrupt governance. There must be no excuses for excesses; but these brave, sacrificing men and women, betrayed by the very state they serve and standing between us and total criminal domination, have my heartfelt sympathy and critical support. We are treading on dangerous ground to beat down the police. The media has distinguished itself in the coverage of 'The Troubles'. The nation owes a big debt of gratitude to the men and women roaming the streets without rest and sleep, facing roadblocks and gunfire to get the news and those stitching the stories together in newsrooms round the clock. I have in my head a number of awards for brilliant work which I won't disclose. No need to incite jealousy in a pack of proud, high performers. Martin Henry is a communications consultant.
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