Lambert Brown, Guest Columnist
Lambert Brown
IT SEEMS that we are about to enter into a very stormy political season. The first 100 days of the new Prime Minister are now over. From her first and indeed successful summit of CARICOM leaders in St. Kitts, she has thrown down the gauntlet to the Opposition about expected general elections in Jamaica. She revealed her desire to have her own mandate and exuded confidence in her ability to obtain victory and a fifth term for the PNP. On the other hand, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, speaking recently on the television programme Impact, declared his own confidence in winning the next election and taking the JLP out of the electoral wilderness where they have been hibernating for the last 17 years.
It is normal that new leaders are assessed on their first 100 days in leadership. The assessment of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, will no doubt take place against the background of the upcoming electoral battles. How objective will the evaluation of her performance by the society be? Will it be a case of her detractors ridiculing and belittling her for publicly affirming her Christian faith, and her willingness to mingle with and 'hug and kiss' the poor? Or will it be a case of her supporters being uncritical while giving her the well-earned praise for her steady hands in the face of the storms of her first 100 days? Objectivity requires balance in marking the script of the last three months.
NO CREDIBLE ANSWER
There are those who believe and still advocate that the new PM should have fired several of the ministers of the Patterson Cabinet. This, while there was a budget to be presented within days. When asked who should replace the fired ministers, there was no credible answer from these advocates. Our system of government limits to the Senate and the House of Representatives the pool from which ministers of government can be drawn. The problem here is not Portia, but our failing as a society to recognise that without a freedom for the head of government to be able to select government ministers from the wider population, and not just members of the Houses of Parliament, then we are doomed to be dominated by mediocrity and incompetence. We need a new system of selecting our ministers which gives real flexibility to our head of government to hire and fire ministers without having to fear parliamentary revolt. Sadly, I do not think our current crop of parliamentarians share this view. Even some of the former champions of the NDM position described as "separation of power", have chosen expediency over principle, and abandoned this crucial component in reforming our archaic political system. Looking at the potential list of candidates from both political parties, I see even more reason for this approach to appointing ministers.
In the composition of her Cabinet, I sense an acknowledgement by the Prime Minister of realism over expectation. Had she given in to the torrents of expectation, she would have been hit by an avalanche of solid rocks with the levels of destruction of her government being not dissimilar to that of hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. After all, she won the party leadership race with less than 50 per cent of the delegates' support. She needs to rebuild, unite her party, and get her own mandate, before being able to make the radical changes being demanded.
MATURING
What the past 100 days have disclosed is a Portia Simpson Miller who is maturing from ordinary minister to Prime Minister. Between the two, there is a world of a difference; the latter requiring extra doses of wisdom, patience and skills to communication with the people. There is no room for panicking, overreacting and assuming crisis at the early signs of dark clouds. During this period I detected a high degree of calmness, flexibility and responsiveness as additional positive characteristics of the new Prime Minister. These will serve her and this nation well in the future. However, she needs to be sensitive to the need for people to hear her voice more on issues of concern to them. The Portmore toll issue is one such where her voice has unfortunately been silent.
In the recent Budget Debate, Opposition Leader Golding was predicting doom in the MoU discussion. He had seen dark clouds. In what appeared to be a well-intentioned call he said: "The Prime Minister needs to intervene now or else not even she will be able to put it back together." History shows no panic on her part, but a signed MoU with the Jamaica Confederation of Trade unions and several organisations representing workers. Similarly, in the cement crisis she had choices. What did she do? Rather than follow the popular call to fire Minister Paulwell, and see her personal rating temporarily soar to new heights, she calmly and quietly ensured that mechanisms were put in place to as quickly as possible restore supply to the market. What would it have benefited the country for the sacking of Paulwell, thus removing a minister who could assist, given his knowledge of the portfolio, with the earliest possible return of normality to the construction sector. No doubt there will be time for sacking in the future.
PROMISE UNFULFILLED
The inner-city communities were promised unannounced visits by the Prime Minister. This is a promise that appears to be unfulfilled in the first 100 days. Maybe the next three months will see a better balance between speech making and more direct visits among the people. These visits could help to further focus the Government's attention in tackling the problems afflicting the poor in cases where the Government is not doing what it is supposed to do for the people. Similarly, the promise of priority attention to human rights issues need to be seen as a reality in the everyday experiences of the people.
These shortcomings of the first 100 days can be overcome quickly.
Finally, the first 100 days have confounded those who believe that Portia, a woman from the grass roots, would not be able to deal with foreign leaders and foreign policy issues. By all accounts, she did very well at the just-concluded CARICOM summit. She was equal to the task, despite being the newest head of government present. Her visit to the United States to meet with the financial community has also confirmed that she is up to the task.
It is my view that she has faced the storms of her first 100 days with courage, calmness and flexibility. What is needed is more responsiveness to the day-to-day concerns of the people.
Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com.
