Ian Boyne
Ian Boyne
THERE IS sometimes a thin line between courage, determination and plain self-delusion. Pearnel Charles has been walking that thin line, and in a few short weeks we will see whether he will skid.
I don't have to wait until the November 6 leadership contest in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to know who will be the next leader. In the months since I confidently pointed out the intractable and insurmountable problems Pearnel would have in snatching the leadership prize, nothing has
happened to make me rethink. If
anything, Bruce Golding has become stronger and has continued to
garner torrential support among the Parliamentary group. It is said that only three of the 26 JLP Parliamentarians are safely with Pearnel Charles. Even if that figure were exaggerated, Bruce Golding is still home and dry.
The "Friends of the JLP" ad
campaign is misguided and ill-advised for a number of reasons.
First, true and wise "friends of the JLP" should know that an internal party contest is best played out quietly and subtly among delegates and party influentials, and kept away as much as
possible from the public glare. Especially in the context where your party has been synonymous with divisiveness, strife,
fractiousness and acrimony. No seriously thinking aspirant to the leadership of the JLP-or any astute political activist-can be unconcerned about the possible ammunition that might be left for enemy hands.
FODDER FOR THE PNP
The Friends of the JLP Popeye ads typecasting Bruce Golding as a Jamaican John Kerry, flip-flopping between
parties and positions,
provide fodder for the Peoples National Party (PNP) in future national electoral contests. Why risk this if you intend to be in the JLP even if your candidate loses or you lose as a number one contestant?
"Friends of the JLP" who are supportive of Pearnel Charles must have access to party delegates outside of national media. Pound the pavement, act as foot soldiers for the cause and find the delegates and try to convince them that Bruce Golding would be an unreliable and unsuitable leader. Of course, if the race were very close and a media hype could help influence delegates to turn against Golding, the negative campaigning might be worth the try in terms of raw politics (in which ethics and principle count for very little) Politicians don't operate by principles taught in Sunday school, remember.
But if the Pearnel camp really knows what's taking place on the ground, they should know-and surely they can't be that self-deluded-that the leadership race is not by any means close. It's not a Kerry-Bush race. Therefore, you don't risk going public with negative ads against a man who is likely to end up as the leader of the party, and the man who will have to lead the charge against the four-time-winning PNP. You work quietly and effectively with the party delegates, throwing all the dirt about Golding in the private meetings and behaving respectable and honourable when journalists are around!
So in terms of raw strategy, the negative ads raise serious questions about the sagacity of the Friends of Pearnel Charles. Mark you, the issues raised in the ads are not in poor taste or slanderous and could legitimately constitute serious discourse. We are asked to make an assessment of the stability and dependability of the man Bruce Golding who is seeking to lead the JLP. Can he be trusted? Is he a leader of strength who knows his own mind? These are legitimate issues and questions to be debated by delegates.
But when you run a political party or have interest in its electoral victory, you have to be mindful that even raising legitimate and pertinent questions in the public square can be manipulated and exploited by the political opponents.
THWARTING GOLDING
The negative ads, however, do indicate one thing: There is a real contest going on the JLP for leadership and there are people prepared to spend money to thwart Bruce Golding's chances of becoming JLP leader. The ads act as a countervailing force to the widespread consensus in the media that the election on November 6 is a mere formality and Golding is already the leader of the JLP, only awaiting Inauguration Day. The ads reinforce winnability in the minds of potential Pearnel voters and this is very important. The most devastating thing for the Pearnel campaign is for delegates to believe that they would be wasting their votes if they cast them for him.
Because Pearnel cannot hope to compete with Golding for the affection and adoration of the media influentials, the ads send a message that it's not over until the fat lady sings. Nobody wants to claim paternity for the ads, for they have been subject to a fury of criticism in the media and among party people, but the thinking behind them is not hard to see.
However, in a contest which is so heavily weighted against these particular Friends of the JLP, it represents money wasted and, more damningly, it provides the raw materials for Weapons of Mass Destruction to be unleashed at the next General Elections. The ads are, in effect, quite friendly to the PNP!
ACTS OF SABOTAGE
But the most significant statement to be made this past week did not concern the ads per se but was the Bruce Golding warning about the steps to be taken to protect party unity after his expected victory. Golding has now made it clear that he would not be tolerating the leaks and divisiveness which dogged JLP Leader Edward Seaga's tenure.
The tough-talking, no-nonsense-sounding contender for the JLP crown told journalists last week that once the delegates have spoken on November 6, everybody will have to fall in line.
The Gleaner reported on Monday that Golding "promised that if elected as party leader at the JLP's annual conference in November, he would implement measures to prevent what he called 'acts of sabotage". This is most interesting. And many of the same people who used "acts of sabotage" in favour of Bruce Golding and in undermining Edward Seaga will be the most vociferous in cracking the whip on the dissidents after Golding wins. Just wait and see. Today's revolutionaries are tomorrow's reactionaries.
One of the major problems Edward Seaga faced was the disloyalty, divisiveness and betrayal of trust by people who were supposed to be working with him. A major part of the branding of the JLP as a fractious, quarrelsome party has been due to the 'acts of sabotage' of his colleagues who are now preparing their long knives, as it were, for the bloodletting after November 6. Seaga's 'confidential' meetings were leaked to the press. The Seaga detractors, in their own interest, manipulated the Press and, of course, because the press loves sensationalism, excitement and genuine news of real fights within the JLP, journalists cooperated. My colleagues felt it was a win-win situation: We were getting the scoops and the inside story and some party functionaries were achieving their goal of undermining Seaga and demonising him.
Seaga, of course, as I have always said, was and is his own worst enemy, and his legendary lack of self-control and bellicose nature played into the hands of his adversaries. Seaga was and is no saint. But I still maintain that he deserved greater integrity by the people around him and that he had the right to speak confidentially to party colleagues without it being the headline in the next day's paper or the main discussion on the morning talk shows. Golding will now demand that colleagues play by the rules, maintain the party's business confidentially and don't rush to the Press with every dispute. When Seaga did that we in the media branded him as a despot and an autocrat who was just a control freak who detested democracy. But the fact is that no leader can lead effectively if he has to be constantly fighting insurgents.
To be sure, Seaga's personality handicapped him in dealing with dissent and rivalry, but after we extract all of that and give it its due weighting, we have to reckon with the fact that the man was given a raw deal by some of those closest to him. Why do we in the media find it so hard to be fair and balanced when it comes to Eddie Seaga? We have to find a middle course between the cultic, delusionary love (the Tivolities) and the blinding hate of this man who has contributed so much to this country.
In all of this, Audley Shaw, as I had written previously, has again demonstrated his astuteness and political dexterity. He started out making some suicidal statements but when he tested the waters and found that they could easily be parted by Bruce Golding in Moses-like fashion, he decided not to play the role of Pharoah. Audley is now reportedly throwing his support behind Golding. Audley is too ambitious and driven to make the unwise miscalculations of Pearnel Charles.
PRAGMATIC LEADERSHIP
I find it hard to write starkly and brutally about Pearnel Charles for I like Pearnel a great deal. He embodies so much of what has made our heroes strong: he has boundless self-confidence, determination, passion, undying commitment to the Jamaican grassroots and peasantry and incredible hope. Pearnel's heart is in the right place. He genuinely wants to make a difference, though he certainly has a lot of personal ambition and wants to make a name for himself. But he feels he can accomplish both: Making a name for himself and his people. Pity he won't get that chance as JLP leader.
As a man who has fought so much for his party and has suffered so much abuse from party leader Eddie Seaga, emotionally you want to see him vindicated.
But that is why I especially regret the fact that he is likely to be so humiliated on November 6. It would have been better to drop out or run a much more low-keyed campaign. Then we wouldn't take his expected trouncing so seriously. But Pearnel is not a man who runs away, even with the likelihood of defeat. He is not a crude opportunist. Pearnel is somewhat of an idealist which at his age might be thought by some cynics as eminently foolish.
I have no doubt that emotionally, the majority of delegates have greater affection for Pearnel Charles than for Bruce Golding. Pearnel is a popular, charismatic leader. But the JLP delegates are very pragmatic, very focused. They see only one thing: Victory at the national polls. Power. Sending this PNP Government to pasture so they can drink milk. This leadership race is not about ideology or a platform of principles. It is about pragmatic interests. Bruce is driven by a set of ideas and principles, no doubt. But his supporters are largely crude pragmatists.
Golding knows that in the minds of the delegates his desirability has everything to do with the perception that he is the man who can retire the PNP. The JLP delegates love Pearnel Charles, but they love themselves more.
Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. You can send your comments to ianboyne1@yahoo.com or infocus@gleanerjm.com.
