.JPG)
Seaga, Walker, Simpson Miller and Davies The following are excerpts of a speech delivered on Wednesday by Oliver Clarke, the President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, to the Kingston Rotary Club.
WE ARE NOW
at the start of what needs to be the most peaceful election in the history of Jamaica.
Both major political parties appear to be working hard to keep the election peaceful.
Both the JLP - who hope to move the country "From Pain to Gain" - and the PNP - who are "Advancing the Quality Society" - must remember, during every minute of this election campaign, that any incidence of crime/violence or corruption, associated with their party, may have a deciding effect on the swing voters. Jamaicans want a new style of clean, crime-free politics. There are many swing voters out there just waiting to jump one way or another if the politics gets dirty.
What will make this the most peaceful election in the history of the country?
The 2002 election will be held:
1. After the best preparation for a general election in the history of the country; best list; 1.3 million Jamaicans entitled to vote; best bureaucracy to supervise elections; excellent Director of Elections; excellent members of the Electoral Advisory Committee; great planning much better than in most developed countries. Just consider the tremendous job done to recruit new and impartial staff to man the polling stations; highly commendable.
For the first time ever, strength and confidence is being shown by a Director of Elections who is sufficiently confident in his job to be pro-active and warn candidates in particular constituencies that they must get their supporters under control. This is not the game as it was played - this is a better game. Under new rules that will allow the speedy voiding of individual constituency results from faulty voting.
2. With the most comprehensive Code of Political Conduct agreed by major parties - a code which is having more bite than any of its predecessors due to willing adherence by the politicians, incredible media interest (no election in the history of the country will ever have enjoyed the depth of analysis and live coverage that the 2002 election is now enjoying in the media), and quick, fearless and far-reaching interpretations of the Code of Conduct from the strong, active and influential Ombudsman (Herro) Blair.
3. Strong media and civic society leadership demanding a peaceful election, ethical campaigning and election practice. Politicians know that the identification of politicians with hooligans and gunmen will hurt them in these polls.
4. A more proactive and effective police force. We have a good Commissioner of Police and I hope he will have the most organised police force ever for an election.
5. With the advent of cellular phones, there will be no little ripple of unrest at any of the 7,000 polling stations that will not get media coverage.
What makes a constituency result democratic?
In the October 16 general elections, individual politicians need to think about whether the voting results in their constituency have, in the past, reflected a voting picture representative of a democratic constituency.
These are the ninth general elections since our 1962 Independence and the 14th general elections since universal adult suffrage in 1944.
Interesting facts relating to the 13 general elections since 1944
1. Total votes cast..............7.2 million
2. Total votes cast PNP..........3.3 million - 46 per cent
3. Total votes cast JLP......... 3.7 million - 51 per cent
4. No party has ever won with more than 50 per cent of total registered voter support - the highest was the PNP in 1976 with 48 per cent
5. If one arbitrarily believed that at least 10 per cent of eligible voters would vote for each party in a contested constituency, then there are 10 historical constituency results that break this arbitrary test of a democratic constituency:
a. Portia Simpson Miller (PNP) got over 90 per cent of the vote in St. Andrew South Western in 1989, 1993 (100 per cent!) and 1997. She has got more over 90 per cent votes in a general election than any other politician.
b. Edward Seaga (JLP) in Kingston Western in 1980 and 1993.
c. The other three are PNP candidates - Marjorie Taylor (1993) (Kingston Eastern and Port Royal), Phillip Paulwell (1997) (Kingston Eastern and Port Royal), and Omar Davies (1997) (St. Andrew Southern).
I do not suggest that there has been any impropriety in any of these constituencies; maybe these candidates really enjoy this overwhelming majority. But on a personal level, I wonder whether there is, in any group in Jamaica, in which at least one person in ten, does not support each party?
Even if these results are democratically pure, one must question the historical and social circumstances that have excluded diversity of opinion from so many geographical areas of the country.
It would be a wonderful vote of confidence in the future of the country if politicians went out of their way to realise that a vote of over 90 per cent for one party in a constituency is nothing other than a sign of social illness in their constituency.
If elections were voided for "social illness" then these results would be top voiding candidates!
A more accurate measure of a democratic constituency might well be one in which at least 30 per cent of the electorate voted for each party. With that test, many more constituencies would fail the test!
Another measure of social illness is unusually high voter turnout. A voter turnout of 90 per cent and above, must be regarded as testing credibility. Jamaica has seen 18 constituency results reporting voter turnout in excess of 90 per cent - four results reported voter turnout of 100 or more per cent.
These top four were all in the constituencies of St. Andrew Southern and St Andrew South Western. The obviously popular winners were Anthony Spaulding (twice), Hartley Jones and Portia Simpson Miller.
Again, I do not suggest any impropriety by any of these candidates - but they must have been worried about the absence of plurality of views amongst their constituents.
It will be interesting to learn if the electoral authorities will consider these two tests of "social illness" as indicators of election results that should be voided on October 16!
The test of democracy should not be limited to the integrity of the transactions within the physical confines of the polling station - the test must also consider whether voters feel free to go to the polling station and exercise their vote.
What items are already on the desk of the new Prime Minister the morning after October 16? These are not necessarily listed in terms of national priority nor has any effort been made to make the list comprehensive.
1. CRIME AND VIOLENCE
The new Government will get no honeymoon over the compelling need to reduce crime and fight the massive penetration of Jamaica by drug barons handling the transshipment of cocaine.
The National Crime Report produced between the two major political parties and the PSOJ has not been acted upon with speed. It is on the desk of whoever is the Minister of National Security come election end. It is also on the desk of whoever will be the shadow minister of National Security, as well as on the desk of the leaders of civil society - for solving crime, violence and drugs can only be done by an alliance of well thinking people.
While the implementation delay may be understandable due to the campaigning activities, it must demand immediate attention the morning after the election results are in. There are 15 recommendations in that report - dealing with re-establishing values amongst youth, strengthening parenting skills, looking at the judicial process, enhancing community action to fight crime, bringing in the guns, improving police effectiveness, reform of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, special legislation to fight terrorism, reform of the police services commission and others.
2. TRANSPARENCY
In the fight to reduce corruption and waste, greater transparency is needed in public affairs and here are some suggestions to achieve this.
1. All elected officials at national and local level should declare their assets at once; this should be done not only to the Corruption Prevention Commission but also to the public. PNP Leader Patterson had already done this; all other elected leaders should do this.
2. The intention of the Access to Information Act should be adopted at once so that every public sector institution will be prepared to make available to the public on request much more information than is now the case.
3. It is unlikely that political campaigns can continue to be financed only by private donations. Some state funding will be needed and at the same time it may be beneficial to support full disclosure of campaign donations.
4. The media in Jamaica need to be allowed greater latitude in reporting on public officials. The libel law needs to be changed in a number of ways, in particular to move towards the American custom of allowing the media more room to report on public officials so long as there is no malice. The media so far, have done a bad job in persuading Jamaica that corruption is most likely to be reduced if there is an investigative press always trying to expose the misuse of public funds. The press can not do this if one slip can eliminate their organisations. It's a real problem to encourage a
