Delroy Chuck
THE EMERGENCE OF Portia Simpson Miller as the new leader of the People's National Party (PNP) and Prime Minister-designate has galvanised the country into great expectations and fresh hopes for a new beginning. No doubt, many PNP delegates chose her over Peter Phillip's Solid as a Rock team, as she represents their best hope for a fifth term. For most Jamaicans, she was the best of what the PNP could offer and, hopefully, a rare opportunity to turn the fortunes of the country around.
Portia's challenge is an enormous one and, with the old, burdensome, baggage within her party, it wont be long before her popularity and the euphoria wane. In truth, there is nothing in Portia's political history or ministerial performance to demonstrate if and how she can turn the country around. To be sure, she can use her popularity to exploit the weakness of the Jamaican people to buy into vain promises and glorious pronouncements, as the PNP seeks a fifth term. Yet, the challenge of the JLP must be to demonstrate that Portia's performance in her constituency and ministerial portfolios has been scandalously poor or, at best, mediocre. The real challenge is when will Jamaicans get real and sensible, look beyond the hype and judge leaders on their performance instead of their popularity, promises and pronouncements.
POLITICS OVER ECONOMICS
For too long, Jamaicans have allowed politics to triumph over economics. The politics of promises triumphed in 1972 and 1989, after the outstanding economic performance of the JLP administrations in the 1960s and 1980s. Sadly, the PNP believes that politics can solve economic problems - they never do. Economic problems can only be solved by prudent and sound economic policies, which have not been forthcoming for almost two decades. Jamaica is in a social and economic mess, and will sink even deeper into an unfathomable abyss unless its economic fortunes are turned around.
Portia's main challenge is to get the economy working. If the economy is not working, nothing else will. The social sector is starved of resources, the health and educational institutions are declining, the roads are disgraceful, and the inner-city communities decimated beyond belief. Without resources, these problems will never be effectively tackled. Sadly, we have borrowed beyond our ability to service our debt and positioned Jamaica to soon become one of the most heavily indebted countries and, hence, eligible for debt relief. If Jamaica is to succeed, Portia has to use her popularity to get Jamaica working and to put Jamaicans to work.
NOT A STORY OF SUCCESS
Unfortunately, the history of popular leadership is not a story of success. Some of history's most popular leaders have been disasters. Popular leaders have used their charisma and charm to build personality cults, pursue ideological warfare and selfish party ends, instead of putting country and people first. The past century has demonstrated how popular leaders, who allow politics to triumph over everything else, have been simply devastating for their countries. Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Julius Nyerere, Robert Mugabe, etc. etc. have been revered and venerated, but their countries suffered during their leadership tenure.
Interestingly, some of history's most unpopular leaders have saved and lifted their countries to great heights. Abraham Lincoln, by any measure, could not have been considered popular, but is admired as one of history's greatest leaders. In recent times, Lee Kuan Yew, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, were not popular but their countries succeeded and history will be kind to them. Popular leaders are best able to inspire and unite their people to great ends but too often get carried away into selfish political adventures.
If Portia's main mission over the next six months or so is primarily to win a fifth term for the PNP, then we will know politics, and not Jamaica, is her priority. The people of Jamaica need jobs, hope and opportunities and it can only come if we get a massive amount of production and investment quickly. No amount of hugging and kissing, dancing and prancing, can get investment going, investment will only come if Portia and her team engage companies in their boardrooms and provide the economic inducement to create work throughout Jamaica.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
