Dawn RitchMANY PEOPLE, particularly young people and journalists, have asked me why the supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at every level are drawn to Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller.
Most are embarrassed to ask the question, they find it so deeply mysterious. To ask the question at all, is to appear to accept the tribalistic status quo in the country: east should not meet west, and Comrade cannot link up with Labourite. But a wall has been reached, and they can't make head or tail of it.
The answer is firmly rooted in the differing origins and cultures of the JLP and the People's National Party. The word 'comrade' goes with 'aparatchek' which implies politburo mandarin, or technocrat and intellectual. The only other word that really goes with Labourite is 'dutty', indicating lumpen proletarian. The one was founded by Queen's Counsel Norman Washington Manley, and the other by Sir Alexander Bustamante of uncertain social origins and who, all his life, hid the fact that he could not speak Spanish, much less read and write.
The difference was that Busta always stood when a woman approached a verandah or entered a room. 'N.W.' couldn't be bothered to get out of his chair. One had an appalling accent, and the other's was of the purist Oxonian Jamaican, purer even than Rex Nettleford's. But the people turned to Busta instead of Norman to take them to national independence, and a wise choice it was too.
HIGH-FLOWN USELESSNESS
The high-flown uselessness of the elder Manley never failed to impress itself upon Labourites. The ill-fated governance of his son Michael merely confirmed it. In the 1970s, decades of economic progress were reversed in favour of legislation with purely social and political aims in mind.
The '90s were a re-confirmation that an intellectual approach to governance for social and political aims wreaks only havoc. In this regard, Edward Seaga's regime of the '80s was an aberration. Here was an intellectual approach with mostly practical aims.
But since he only had a first degree I suppose he was allowed to be foolish.
Seaga's becoming leader of the JLP was itself an aberration. Hugh Shearer, then Prime Minister, had lost the general election to Michael Manley. Shearer was thrown out, and for the first time, a flagrant intellectual became Leader of the JLP to counter what it saw as the stakes in that department having been raised. A way to managerialise the JLP had been found from which it has yet to recover.
Seaga also broke with JLP traditions by appointing what remains the most highly-qualified Cabinet the country has ever seen. Naturally, every minister wanted to be a mandarin. So it pulled apart the minute Seaga tried to micro-manage them. Then it went the way of all flesh and there were hurt feelings all around.
Since then, the Labourites have longed for a leader to call their own. Somebody to get on with the job of running the country properly and kissing beauty queens, so that all else can be quiet and productive in the land. In common with the rest of the country, they don't listen to broadcasts and don't want to be consulted on every little thing. The acme of existence as far as they are concerned, is to take things for granted.
This is at odds with the constant questioning by the current Opposition Leader, and three out of four of the leadership aspirants in the PNP. Every time one of them opens his mouth it's always a question. They love appointing committees to come up with more of them. The paradox is that a leader supplies the answers, he or she does not ask the questions. These politicians are, therefore, in conflict with conceived notions of what is reasonable or possible.
The public persona of Mrs. Simpson Miller on the other hand, is tailor-made to the longing for a return of common sense and pragmatism. Labourites don't usually dream the big, impossible dreams pundits today call visions. JLP supporters have always resisted and distrusted the quick fix and the mad impulse. And while they may stand for ladies, they don't socialise a lot and prefer to be making money when they do.
AN ENIGMATIC SIMPSON MILLER
Mrs. Simpson Miller as an enigma suits them fine, because they understand her. She's not a trussed-up chicken, nor is she a technocrat. Since they're profoundly distrustful of all ideologies save individual prosperity and the rule of law, she fits their profile like a glove. They believe that if she is Prime Minister, Mrs. Simpson Miller won't feed them to any more big visions and mad impulses. It is what they crave even more than their party being in office, particularly since it's now headed by yet another technocrat. They want change, and she's the only change they see. Not all of them feel that way of course. Among many Labourites, the very idea of Mrs. Simpson Miller is greeted with pursed lips. They feel she's flown way past her nest, meaning their own Jamaica Labour Party.
To them, she should have crossed the floor long ago, and is just going to make things very difficult for their party should she become PNP president and Prime Minister. Their position is that they admire Mrs. Simpson Miller very much, but they want her as Opposition Leader. If she wins, they're going to be most disappointed indeed.
They are part of the tribalism that will always exist in this country. They are not swept away by her charm, purely because she's in the wrong party. And worse still, she's run away in their clothes.
Tribalists in the PNP are in no better position. They're having to observe the unwelcome attentions of the JLP supporters for one of their candidates.
But it's all a simple case. Since Portia won't come to them, they're going to her. They know that professionals and technocrats are a dime a dozen, but a good leader is hard to find.
Footnote: I am grateful to Mrs. Peggy Blades, chairman of the Woman's Club for pointing out that the Woman's Club, although established in 1936 to do charitable works, did not have a home for the elderly until 1975.
