OVER THE years, Jamaica and Germany have enjoyed very cordial relations and indeed we have been the beneficiary of several development projects funded by the German Federal Republic. We have also been fortunate to have assigned to us a series of hard-working German ambassadors who have generated much good will during their tenure in the island.
It would now appear that this has not been a one-way street from Berlin to Kingston but that Jamaica's image in Germany is so strong that the colours of our flag are featuring in the current political manoeuvring there as a result of the recent general election.
So close has this election been that none of the three leading contenders for forming the new government has a clear mandate and it appears that a coalition will have to be negotiated. The Christian Democrats, led by Angela Merkle, is identified by the colour 'black; the Free Democratic Party, led by Chancellor Schroeder, is identified by the colour 'yellow'; and the environmental Greens, logically enough, are identified by the colour 'green'.
These are the colours of the Jamaican flag and with an unexpected lightness of touch not usually associated with the Teutonic character, the German press has picked up on this and are using the phrase 'the Jamaican Coalition' as humorous shorthand for the possible political alliance which may be formed. Some German cartoonists have drawn Mrs. Merkel with dreadlocks and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has made some offhand remarks about reggae music and marijuana spliffs. None of this, in our view, has been disrespectful and indeed may well be gaining excellent publicity for the island's tourist industry.
The Jamaican Embassy has issued a cautionary note to the German press not to 'trivialise' the good relations between the two countries and this, it seems to us, verges on being a bit pompous and defensive under the circumstances. Of course the Jamaican culture is much more than about dreadlocked men and women dancing to reggae music amid a cloud of marijuana smoke, but it is German personalities who are having fun poked at them, not Jamaican dignitaries. We think that this whole issue is actually a complement to the strength of the Jamaican cultural impact in Germany and we hope that our envoys in Germany do not elevate it to the status of a storm in a teacup.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
