DAWN RITCH THE CHALLENGES for position going on in the People's National Party (PNP) has put on display an impressive internal political structure. It ought to be the envy of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Not only does the PNP win national elections, but the system for the conduct of internal elections strengthens the party's team spirit.
In the JLP, the four deputy leaders are individually elected by one of four regions. On the other hand, the four vice presidents of the PNP are elected nationally.
WONDERFUL SYSTEM
Every PNP delegate must vote for four people in order of preference. A vote for three or five names disqualifies the ballot.
This is a wonderful system, because it habituates party delegates to think of a team; and it accustoms the candidates to realise that a party vote is at all times the arbitrator. One might even say it is a
permutation of numbers, or mathematical possibilities especially when five
candidates run for four positions.
The JLP is about four or five different parties all rolled uneasily into one. Its central operations council is designed to waste money and misread every cue.
The party was founded on the basis of one strong personality. Today, every deputy leader hopes he can convey that impression, to say nothing of the leader, chairman and general secretary.
As a consequence, there are chiefs running up and down everywhere, and not a single Indian in sight.
They are encouraged to think in a corporate structure. Each of them is a god with a command structure at his fingertip except that its all in their heads.
This is why they've been unable to win either a
general election, or have an internal party election
without discord, and resort, both mentally and
physically, to the lowest common denominator.
Not only the leader but the deputy leaders should subject themselves to the vote of all delegates of the party. They might win an election after that.
In fact, they should scrap the regional system altogether, and restore their branch system.
Until that happens, their 4,000 delegates to the PNP's 1,600 do not really count for much.
In the last PNP vice-presidential
election, a total of 1,559 delegates voted. Twenty-nine were spoiled, leaving 1,531 valid votes.
Dr. Karl Blythe came first with 1,443 votes. He beat Portia Simpson Miller by 62 votes, but she beat Dr. Peter Phillips by 152 votes, and he only beat Dr. Paul Robertson by 26.
Paul Burke, who caused all the confusion, polled an amazing 864 for a last-minute challenge.
Between them, Dr. Blythe and Mrs. Simpson Miller had 300 delegates. So if they even dumped Peter Phillips on their dance card, it still meant that Paul Burke got nearly 600 votes on his own.
Like Dr. Trevor Munroe, Paul Burke was a radical communist in his youth. While Dr. Munroe has donned a suit, and been forgiven, Mr. Burke is still wearing sandals and still in need of redemption.
The PNP gave it to him, even while it made him a loser and denied him a vice presidential spot. This must make him feel much refreshed.
Dr. Peter Phillips is a different case. Seeing the writing on the wall perhaps, he left the election compound before the final tally.
What I cannot make out is why Dr. Vin Lawrence resembled a cat who had eaten a canary when he announced the final results. He is not known to be in the camp of Dr. Omar Davies, who is one of the contenders for the PNP presidency,
possibly in September.
ALARMING THE MIDDLE CLASS
I had not thought the exercise of democratic rights would give him such a pleased-puss look. But even though the Electoral Office of Jamaica did not preside over the election, it is being hailed far and wide as fair and square so much so that Dr. Blythe's success is greatly alarming the middle class. They say he has the three credentials for becoming a PNP president.
He was fired, he said he would return, and his name has been linked to a state financial scandal. Unlike the others, he didn't have a tent at the elections, only a big shade tree. As far as I can see, this was the only unfair advantage he enjoyed in the party elections.
The other advantage is in-built. The grass roots see him as one of their own for handing out land and housing to them.
And they do not care that one of the schemes was built in a river bottom. A man in haste is allowed a mistake or two.
LEADERSHIP RACE
Mistakes like that ought not to be accepted in any candidate for the leadership of either of our two major political parties. Dr. Blythe seemed to be aware of that in his televised remarks on the afternoon of his victory.
This leaves Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller as the only one standing after the first round, with able support from Dr. Blythe and Mr. Burke. Even Dr. Robertson's helpfulness to Dr. Phillips is in serious question, having got only 26 votes less than the latter.
Mrs. Simpson Miller seems to have given Dr. Phillips an insupportable insult, beating him by a such wide margin in a tight race. Now, hopefully Dr. Blythe can draw some of that heat over the next eight months.
