By Devon Dick, ContributorTHE 16TH of October has been named as the date for the first General Election in the new millennium, ending the guessing game about naming the date. There are those who suggest that to avoid the guessing game, Jamaica should have a fixed date. It is strange that the persons who indulged most in guessing the date are the ones who are calling for a fixed date. One is tempted to view it as sour grapes of not being able to call the date right and not having the power to call the date why this insistence on a fixed date.
Even the Sunday Gleaner had as its headline three dates in October and all were wrong! One political analyst went as far as to name every possible month in 2002 excepting October because he claimed that the PNP has a mortal fear of October!
It was clear to the politically astute that the Right Honourable P.J. Patterson was thinking of the last quarter of 2002 from the very beginning and had an eye on December 2002, based on his Freudian slip. All governing parties want to serve as long as possible especially if defeat is a real possibility. Furthermore, after the PNP suffered a historic defeat in North-East St. Ann in 2001 and the Prime Minister asked Dr. Paul Robertson and Mrs. Maxine Henry-Wilson to give up their prestigious Cabinet positions that they had at least a year's work ahead of them.
In addition, P.J. Patterson would not call the elections before April because not only was he behind in the opinion polls but also it is important to him to establish the record as the first Prime Minister to have done 10 consecutive years. He would not have called it before July because it would be a feather in the cap of any administration to host the World Junior Games, third largest and most important games on the international athletics calendar. In addition, an integral member of the PNP's campaign team, Dr. Vin Lawrence, was full-time in the arrangements for the biggest athletics show in Jamaica. Not to mention, the NHT was given a mandate to erect the Emancipation Park by July 31. Patterson wanted to build a park especially one dedicated to the memory of the freed slaves as part of his legacy.
In any case, the Prime Minister had given hints that he would not have called the elections before the opening of the North Coast Highway or before he had presented all candidates in the various regions. Some sections of the media need to examine themselves to see how they fostered the guessing game by spending so much time and space on the guessing game. It was encouraging that while some writers were spending time guessing others were spending time trying to discuss issues.
A fixed date is therefore not the panacea because in the USA, as one election ends people start to speculate on the candidates for the future. Furthermore, in America, during an election year, things are on hold for eleven months. Jamaica does not need that nor can it afford it. What Jamaica needs is to conduct its business as usual no matter what political party is governing cognisant of the fact, that ultimately God is in control.
We need proposals about the better way forward. It is therefore, disheartening to observe the JLP being side-tracked by some members of the media into discussing Bruce Golding when they have a campaign to manage. Of far greater importance to a guessing game would be that persons in St. Ann and St. James North West were without representation for almost a year after the resignation of Ambassador Seymour Mullings and Francis Tulloch. Legislation needs to be enacted so that no seat whether for the House of Representatives or Parish Council should be vacant longer than three months.
Instead of this over-importance being place on a date and voting every five years there needs to be a deepening of the role of the people in governance and participation in decisions that affect us all. Senator Douglas Orane made a valid point of asking that the role of Independent Senators be entrenched in the constitution and not be left solely to the discretion of Prime Minister or Leader of the Opposition. The only weakness of the idea is the use of the word 'Independent'. It gives the impression that Senators appointed by political parties cannot be independent or have not in the past demonstrated independent thought apart from the party position.
What is needed are senators appointed by civil society representing mass-based organisations. The terms used are important and it is time the title 'Leader of the Opposition Party' be retired and in its stead be 'Leader of Alternative Party'. The party not in government ought to do more that just oppose and should really be pointing to the better alternatives. Have you ever wondered why a female constable is called 'woman constable' but there is no 'woman superintendent' or 'woman assistant Commissioner' or 'man constable'. Changing the word of the Oath of Allegiance from a foreign queen to the people and constitution of Jamaica is good. Does God appear in the new wording?
This fixation with fixing a date or guessing the date can be counter-productive. Instead let the electioneering discuss and focus on jobs, public debt, income tax reform, team spirit, integrity of candidates, community development, family values, drug trafficking, education, crime management, justice and the role of civil society in governance.
Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church.
