WE NOTE that Mr. P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister and president of the People's National Party, is urging the party's National Executive Council to give priority attention to its restructuring and renewal.
This has a valedictory ring to it and is not unusual rhetoric from a leader who has stated his intention to step down before the next general election, stimulated no doubt by the poor showing of the PNP in the recent Local Government elections. But Mr. Patterson's recommendations are couched in such general terms that we wonder what impact they will have, given the succession race for leadership of the party.
Mr. Patterson urges his comrades to get to know the issues, especially globalisation, the implications of which must be explained to the people. Also, he makes a pitch for the party faithful to deepen participatory democracy by being more open to civil society. All well and good as far as it goes but perhaps the most subtle message Mr. Patterson delivered in his speech to the NEC is that the party must not allow its identity as a party to be overshadowed by the Government.
This echoes sentiments expressed by Mr. Paul Burke, president of Area III of the PNP's political organisation, and we hope it does not translate as "party first, national interest second".
Mrs. Hyacinth Bennett has resigned as head of the National Democratic Movement and a race of sorts will be on to see who will succeed her.
The forerunners in the race to succeed Mr. Patterson as leader of the PNP are Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security; Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, and Dr. Karl Blythe, former Minister of Water and Housing, who, recognising the mercurial nature of Jamaican voters, is determined to make a come-back despite the stigma of scandal.
In the realpolitik of the infighting between such personalities Mr. Patterson's remarks are hardly likely to be given high priority. Dr. Phillips may have to postpone certain police reforms needed in the national interest because they may have on-ground adverse political implications for him. Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller, impregnable in her constituency, may encounter some difficulty in crafting a national agenda on which to run, especially if she wishes to distance herself from Dr. Bythe's grassroots approach to cutting corners to gain political mileage.
As time goes on and the economic pressures continue to build, will cracks in the PNP begin to widen even as the Jamaica Labour Party holds its counsel waiting to see what will happen?
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
