IT MAY be appropriate for the Cabinet to go on retreat on the eve of their first one hundred days in office.
Having won an election with the support of just a quarter of all Jamaicans old enough to vote, it could be argued that a daunting task faced the new administration. With the electoral support of less than one-third of the registered voters and a relatively close seat count, caution seemed to be the order of the day.
The first sign of caution was the retreat from the successful initiative of appointing Independent Senators. Cabinet appointments were predictable and uninspiring. However, basking in the evening shadows at Emancipation Park, the Prime Minister delighted in swearing allegiance to the Constitution and the People.
While he was being sworn-in post-election violence had already raised its ugly head and was indeed escalating. Responding to the Opposition's call for high-level meetings, the Prime Minister consolidated a bi-partisan approach to the issue of crime and violence. Civil Society leaders were co-opted to monitor initiatives made to counter the violence. Saturation of selected urban communities by the Security Forces eventually put a damper on some criminal activities.
This lull in the violence was accompanied by the news of an economic downturn as reflected in the numbers on the fiscal deficit and the rising national debt. As signs of heavy taxation and more belt-tightening loomed, officials maintained a stony silence on huge salary increases for Parliamentarians and Local Government Councillors. Undaunted by criticisms, the Prime Minister did not skip a beat as he announced the exoneration of his former ministerial colleague, Karl Blythe on unconvincing grounds.
In preparing the ruling party for the anticipated March Local Government elections, the Prime Minister reiterated his intention to demit office before the end of the five-year term. A symbolic end to the first hundred days, this re-declaration of retirement plans capped a cautious three months.
The feat of staying on top of the Crime and Violence issue, satisfying the early demands of Civil Society - while co-opting the Parliamentary Opposition - might be satisfying to the Administration but eminently uninspiring to the nation. As the Administration goes into retreat, after its first one hundred days, there is a sense that perilous times are ahead.
There is more than a chorus of misgiving emerging even from a senior government spokesman and the occasional rural councillor. The gap between now and Budget time requires more inspiring vigour to avoid becoming a gulf of national despair.
The Prime Minister should not want to seem to be abandoning a sinking ship, with the guns he pledged to rout still barking a murderous tune.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
