THURSDAY'S LOCAL Government elections have presented the country with the dynamic for a new level of maturity in how we conduct politics. Indeed the JLP victory is a tonic for the two-party system after the unprecedented four consecutive terms of PNP administration.The analysis on the relatively low voter turnout will continue for sometime yet but what is unmistakable is that right across the country, in almost every parish, there was a swing away from the PNP. Pundits have already suggested that this had to do with poor representation of the previous councillors who were in office since 1998 in addition to disaffection over the management of the economy and general frustration with the Government.
Indeed the Jamaica Labour Party's contention that it was a referendum on the Government's performance cannot be dismissed as political hyperbole. For even if JLP supporters were more determined to make that point, one would have expected a greater turnout of PNP supporters in response to Mr. Patterson's own exhortion not to be defensive about the track record.
Against that background the JLP can be expected to exert pressure on the Government over matters that may have little to do with Local Government administration; in effect to press for an early general election. Bear in mind that the Prime Minister has declared that the Government intends to pursue its policy of Local Government reform in collaboration with the new councils.
Such collaboration in the new political reality can be dynamic but contentious; for it is the Government that commands most of the resources for real development of the community infrastructure that Local Government authorities have not been able to energise.
It is worth noting that Mr. Patterson in consoling supporters Thursday night made the point that, in accordance with the normal three-year cycle of the Parish Councils the next Local Government elections are due in 2006; and the next General Elections are due in 2007.
The inference is clear: the next Local Government polls will once again be a trial of political strength to determine the scope and strategy to fashion yet another General Election victory a year later in 2007.
While such political considerations are inevitable on both sides of the tribal divide we think the quality and scope of local administration could suffer instead of benefiting from the new alignments.
We would urge all the parties concerned to address the matters that directly affect the people and communities that the newly elected councillors have daily contact with. A real window of opportunity may now be used to make local government reform meaningful.
Local Government Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, should seek to forge a working alliance with all the councils to push through reforms that could banish apathy about politics as cynical and self-serving.
We expect that new values and attitudes in these matters will be exemplified by newly-elected Mayor George Lee of the Portmore Municipality, piloting a new era in local governance.
