Arnold BertramWhile everyone concedes the right of the 4,000 delegates of the People's National Party (PNP) to elect their new president, the rest of the society is understandably
anxious to find out all they can about the contending candidates, since the next president of the PNP will automatically become the Prime Minister for all Jamaica.
Such is the political culture, that the reports of parliamentary proceedings hardly reflect the views of parliamentarians on the important issues of the day. Indeed, some of the most senior parliamen-
tarians have successfully avoided expressing themselves in the discussions and debates which constitute
an integral part of parliamentary life.It is outside of Parliament, therefore, that civil society must devise ways and means of getting to know more about those offering themselves for national leadership, and who will, as a consequence, exercise a major influence on national decision making.
To debate or not to debate
Within the nation state, the private sector exercises a decisive influence on the success or failure of any political administration. In an age of globalisation, their role in economic development enjoys unprecedented importance. All plans for national development, including the eradication of poverty and the raising of the living standards of the poor, are based on an expansion of production and the increasing competitiveness of goods and services produced in Jamaica.
None of this is possible without the closest cooperation between the Government and the private sector, based on a shared vision and mutual confidence.
The media has a major obligation in facilitating public scrutiny of all aspirants to the highest executive office in the land. It is within this context that the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) sponsored a national debate to allow the wider electorate to hear the views of those offering themselves for national leadership.
The present challenges to national development are such that this debate assumes critical importance, and should therefore be taken seriously by all those who respect the people and their institutions, including corporate Jamaica and the PSOJ.
At another level, public debate is a critical component of the political process. The leaders of the PNP, since its inception in 1938, boast an enviable record of confidently articulating their views on public policy and their perspectives on national development.
tradition must be respected
Those who now seek a mandate to lead the party must respect this tradition. It can hardly be in the interest of the party for any of the four contenders to be seen as avoiding the scrutiny of the public in
general and the private sector in particular.
Such a perception will have the most debilitating effect on the party's confidence, and considerably impair the new administration's capacity to build the alliances on which successful governance depends.
Against this background, one can only express total disappointment with the announcement from Portia Simpson Miller's campaign team that their candidate will not be available for a debate before the elections.
What is the position of the Press Association of Jamaica? What sanctions if any, does it advocate? Will the PNP intervene and insist that all its candidates honour the finest traditions of the party for public engagement?
Finally, what are the options available to the
private sector?
Opportunism cannot form the basis of a coherent policy, and a strategy of avoidance is clearly incompatible with a party which places a premium on its historic role as being the party of the people.
Even at this late stage the PSOJ, the PNP and the four contenders owe it to the public and to the development of national democracy to ensure that the debate is held.
Who can beat Bruce Golding?
The question as to which of the four contenders has the best chance of beating Bruce Golding and the JLP in the next general elections has been mooted as a factor to be considered seriously by the delegates of the People's National Party in choosing their next leader. I've always contended that unless the
elections were held now, such opinion polls are meaningless, since between now and the elections the objective conditions could change drastically.
The single factor which will most determine the PNP's electoral fortunes is not a poll done now, but the capacity of the new leader to unite the party and restore its internal cohesion after the contest. The
history of elections in Jamaica suggests that the
electorate does not support divided parties.
Still, for those who insist that the ability to beat Bruce Golding is of importance now, the results of the polls conducted by Bill Johnson are extremely enlightening.
research
Bill Johnson is a graduate of Yale University with an honours major in political science who, under the sponsorship of his university, successfully completed the University of Michigan's Graduate Level Survey Research Centre Programme. For the last 20 years he has headed his own research firm and has satisfied political clients, including three New York State governors, three mayors of New York City and 10 members of congress. His corporate clients in North America include Mobil Oil Corporation, Phillip Morris and the New York Port.
More importantly, Johnson has been providing services to political clients as well as corporate Jamaica for the last 10 years.
The list of his clients locally, read like a Jamaican version of Fortune 500. In terms of services provided for the People's National Party in the areas of research and polling, his performance is not likely to be bettered for accuracy, precision and professionalism. In a poll published in The Sunday Gleaner, January 29, Johnson established that both Peter Phillips and Portia Simpson Miller were statistically tied in their ability to beat Bruce Golding. In legal terms this result would be classified as settled law. It is no less in politics.
A hard man to beat
I understood that the decision to use Jamaica College as the venue for the presidential elections was not enthusiastically greeted by those contenders who thought Peter Phillips would have some
intangible advantage from the elections being held at his alma mater.
When confronted with this line of argument Phillips responded by pointing out that he enjoyed a peculiar relationship with all the venues proposed. He was born at Mico College, where his father taught, attended Jamaica College studied and taught at the University of the West Indies, and the year he graduated the exercises were held in the National Arena. It seems Phillips is just a hard man to beat.
Arnold Bertram, a historian and former
parliamentarian, is at present chairman of Research and Project Development Ltd. Comments may be sent to redev@cwjamaica.com.
