Delroy Chuck
PRIME MINISTER Portia Simpson Miller has shrewdly positioned herself as the symbol of change and hope. The euphoria since her presidential election on Saturday, 25th February, and prime ministerial installation on Thursday, 30th March, continues and probably will for some time. Jamaica had become so hopeless, desperate and rudderless that anything could give it a lift, and Portia provided the boost, if even for the moment.
Yet, I am not altogether sanguine that anything better will come, and her early decisions do not send the right signals. In my column of 8th March, 2006, I wrote: "If she chooses more than half the present Cabinet ministers, we will know she is not really interested in change, and a new beginning but, evidently, it will be just more of the same." Well, every one of her Cabinet ministers served in the previous administration. Interestingly, the three ministries that demanded a significant shake-up - Justice, National Security, and Finance and Planning - the ministers and their portfolios remain unchanged. Every other ministry or minister was changed or modified in some way, yet with the country suffering from a crisis of injustice, a growing insecurity and a deteriorating economy, AJ Nicholson, Peter Phillips and Omar Davies are untouched and given the green light to continue business as usual.
If ever there was a slap to the outgoing Prime Minister Patterson, it was the new PM's call for action now, as she addressed her newly sworn Cabinet. Are we to believe that as a part of Prime Minister Patterson's Cabinet, she did not think that they acted vigorously and fully in the nation's interests? And, if she did, why re-appoint everyone who previously served, and without distinction? I am led to believe that this is the same, old, PNP administration that has misgoverned and mismanaged Jamaica for the past 17 years, and has simply elevated a new populist leader in its mission to win a fifth term. Nothing new is likely to happen over the next three to six months, save and except a mountain of promises and pronouncements for the fifth term.
Politics is such an uncertain vocation. Perception, public relations and profiling are its main forte. Today, you are up; tomorrow, you are down. Only yesterday, Portia was an ordinary minister serving in a lacklustre, weak and incompetent government; now, she is seen as the shining star. But, where was she when she served during those 17 long years alongside these same Cabinet Ministers? In our parliamentary system of government, the ministers are collectively responsible for every Cabinet decision, and she must take some blame for any inaction or failure. If ministers are not in favour and vigorously oppose the direction of the government, they must resign.
I have contended and still contend that we must judge, assess and praise people primarily on their performance and accomplishments, instead of their nice sounding, well crafted, speeches which can offer so much but achieve so little. When will we assess Portia's performance during her ministerial tenure or representation for over 30 years in South Western St. Andrew? In her call for action now, has she demonstrated it before? In even a small way, what has she done to demonstrate she is an action person, and not just a profiler?
In Opposition, Edward Seaga brought needed housing solutions to many poor people in Denham Town. Four years ago, he built the Denham Town community centre, primarily from JSIF funding, which, along with the Tivoli community centre, serve as models of community development. Omar Davies built the Tony Spaldings complex, which is a centre of community activity and togetherness. Even in my short time and limited way, communities are cleaner, improved, better and together in North East St. Andrew.
In PM Simpson Miller's call for community development, what has she done towards that effort and even to unite people in her constituency? In the euphoria of a new Prime Minister, let us not get carried away in our expectations and hopes, lest we become even more politically cynical if she fails. Well, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, let us have less talk and profiling, and start the action, now.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
