Heather Robinson
THERE HAS been a lot of talk recently about the time it is taking the People's National Party ( PNP) to unite under the leadership of the party's fourth president Portia Simpson Miller.
The party president has spent some time in explaining her desire to put February 25 behind her, and move forward with a united party. Anyone who has heard her articulate her position, can be in little doubt about her sincerity.
But it is now obvious that some members of 'Team Portia' who are quite unaccustomed to working with a party president and prime minister, have taken matters into their own hands.
On Monday, I had a very interesting conversation with one such 'team' member who complained that members of the 'Solid as a rock' team are suffering from what he termed 'victim syndrome'.
INDIVIDUAL HEALING
This syndrome, he said, has its victims refusing to accept that Portia is the Prime Minister and the President of the PNP. He believes that there should be an automatic acceptance of the change of leadership, and all comrades should be able to accommodate the instant change.
I took some time in explaining that each human being heals at a different rate. Any surgeon, psychiatrist or psychologist will tell you that.
Any farmer who plants ten seeds of corn in 10 different holes in the ground will tell you that all 10 will not grow the same way. When a family of 10 members loses the father in that family, each of the 10 react differently.
One will cry openly at the funeral, and never cry publicly again, while there will be another who cries daily. There is no doctor or counsellor who can prescribe when the person will stop mourning. Healing is a very individual process.
However, the process of healing can be assisted if certain steps are taken. Firstly no one should seek to bully anyone into accepting their new reality.
Gentle persuasion and the extension of hands of friendship and support go a far way in preparing one for acceptance of their new reality. Looking for monsters under every stone is far from desirable. Neither should attempts be made to crush stones into pebbles.
Monday's Gleaner quoted PNP vice-president, Dr Peter Phillips, thus: 'This is not a time for vindictiveness; this is not a time for settling scores'. He continued 'Every time the PNP has suffered defeat at the polls, it was because we have been divided'.
The reminder is very timely. Those 'team' members who continue to believe that they by themselves can win the fifth term for the PNP had better think again.
Alienated, angry and victimised comrades can only contribute to a Jamaica Labour Party victory. Wounds are being made worse by the vicious actions of some.
LET HEALING CONTINUE
Have you ever had a sore foot that is healing, and just at that point some wicked person comes along and deliberately kicks you in it? You are back to square one, and in some cases the sore is even worse than it was before.
Wednesday's victory for the PNP in Eastern Westmoreland demonstrates what can happen when all members of the PNP work together with one goal in mind.
It did not matter who had received your support on February 25. What mattered was that each person there understood the necessity to get Luther Buchanan elected.
PNP members who are genuinely interested in the fifth term must now continue working together to ensure that the healing process is in no way sabotaged by a handful of ungracious individuals who enjoy crosses and the infliction of pain. Let the healing continue, uninterrupted.
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.
