Dariane Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
SIX MONTHS ago, illness forced Dr. D.K. Duncan to withdraw as campaign manager of Dr. Omar Davies' Campaign for Prosperity team during the People's National Party (PNP) presidential race.
To the astonishment of many, the 65-year-old dentist signalled his return to representational politics by offering himself as political representative for the Eastern Hanover constituency.
Dr. Duncan is but one of many ageing politicians who have found reasons to remain at the forefront of Jamaican politics. His comrade, George Lyn, 10 years his senior, is also attempting a comeback to representative politics recently. Lyn, who is seeking to contest the North Central Clarendon seat on the PNP ticket, said the constituency has asked for proper representation and so he is back for one last time.
"This is my last one," Mr. Lyn, a two-time parliamentarian says. However, he is one of the few, if not the only ageing politician preparing a departure timetable.
Pearnel Charles of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), for example, had ambitions of being prime minister. Two years ago, those hopes were dashed when the JLP embraced Bruce Golding as its new leader. Now 70, Mr. Charles, has to rely on dye to keep his trademark, surgically-looking half-gray hair, sharp. His attitude to representation is, however, just as unblunted as when he first entered representa-tional politics in 1967.
"I feel no different at age 70 than I felt at age 45," was how Mr. Charles responded to The Sunday Gleaner when asked about his stay in politics. "My muscles and my mind respond similarly, except that I am more mature and in some ways more conservative. The years of experience have given me more wisdom," Mr. Charles added.
Seventy-one-year-old Mike Henry, Central Clarendon MP, prefers to be called a winning rather than a losing politician."I am in this because I keep winning," says Mr. Henry who has won six consecutive elections since tasting defeat in his first outing in 1976. He will not leave active politics, he says, until he is able achieve his goals of significantly impacting the lives of the ordinary Jamaicans.
PNP old guard
George Lyn (75)
While no where close to eclipsing the feat of Sir Alexander Bustamante who was last elected to Parliament at age 78, North Central Clarendon's George Lyn is again looking for a seat inside Gordon House.
His years as a politician number 13, having entered in 1993 at age 65. And despite being soundly beaten by Pearnel Charles in the 2002 General Election, the great- grandfather still believes he has a lot to offer.
"You are as old as you feel and I don't feel old," Mr. Lyn who turns 75 next month says.
He adds that he still has a lot to offer his constituents, who he claims have requested his leadership.
"I was born and raised here. The people want me and they have asked me to be their representative," asserts Lyn, who notes he is in the departure lounge.
D.K. Duncan (65))
After two decades in hiatus, Dr. D. K. Duncan has returned to representational politics. The dentist, who served as Cabinet minister and PNP general secretary under Michael Manley's democratic socialist government of the 1970s and then joined Bruce Golding's National Democratic Movement in 1995, is the PNP's selectee for Eastern Hanover.
During his foremer days as MP, Duncan represented East Central St. Andrew, doing so from 1976 to 1983. He was among the nine PNP candidates to win a seat in the 1980 General Election, which the JLP swept.
Robert Pickersgill (63)
A lawyer by profession, Mr. Pickersgill is a seasoned high- ranking member of the PNP which he serves as chairman.
Pickersgill, the Member of Parliament for North Western St. Catherine since 1989, is the current Minister of Transportation and Works. Previously, he held the public utilities and the mining and energy portfolios. Asked if this would be his last election, the PNP Youth Organisation founding president replies: "I put no cap on myself in that regard. Others of my ilk have said they want to do something else. I have not arrived at that conclusion. I am still ready and willing to serve."
Asked if it was important that older politicians prepare a departure timetable, Mr. Pickersgill says that it should be an individual decision. "You should know whether you are entering, have entered or about to enter the departure lounge.
"But as long as the good Lord continues, to bless me with good health I am prepared to serve because I like doing it," says Pickersgill, who, aside from Prime Minister Porta Simpson Miller, is the most senior member of the PNP.
Harry Douglas (64)
Harry Douglas has been the elected political representative for South East St. Mary for the entire life of this current PNP administration which came to power in 1989. This election, he said, will be his last.
"It has to be my last shot. Old father time has taken its toll. Like an old soilder, I just will have to fade away," Mr. Douglas tells The Sunday Gleaner.
As a little boy, Douglas listened from a plum tree as Norman Manley addressed residents of Rock River in St. Mary. He was only 12, but it was a sobering introduction to politics.
A lover of the Victorian hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to war, Mr. Douglas says it is his love for the common people that keeps him in politics.
"I am from the bowels of the working class. I enjoy working for people and that is why I am still involved," he said.
Mr. Douglas had wanted Dr. Peter Phillips to lead the PNP. He called it quits when Portia Simpson Miller won the presidential race but on the advice of his wife, he had a turn of heart.
JLP old guard
Pearnel Charles (70)
Mr. Charles has done the rounds as a politician. He entered representational politics in 1967 when he was elected councillor for the Denham Town Division in the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). After two years in the KSAC, Mr. Charles was nominated to the Senate and served for another two years before moving into constituency politics in 1980.
Mr. Charles first became a Member of Parliament in 1980 when he beat the PNP's Ken Jones for the Eastern St. Thomas seat. He remained the MP for the constituency until 1993 when he was beaten by Dr. Fenton Ferguson of the PNP.
Defeat sent Mr. Charles to North Central Clarendon where he was beaten by the PNP's George Lyn in the 1997 General Election.
Mr. Charles, however, redeemed himself in the 2002 election by beating Lyn in the same seat.
"I plan to serve the people as long as my muscle and my mind respond to their request," Mr. Charles says.
Mike Henry(71)
Mike Henry prefers to be called a winning politician rather than on ageing politician.
"You have no right to call me an ageing politician," he protests. "I have a young wife and (she) is not complaining. I don't fail to perform in the evenings. The doctors have not told me that I am not fit and I have dreams to implement and fulfil," he discloses.
"If I can't see them, I want to bring the balance back. I am not going to go out like a lamb, I am going to go out with the roar of a lion," says Mr. Henry.
The resolute Mr. Henry, who once challenged Edward Seaga for the leadership of the JLP, does not believe he is preventing any youngster from seeking to represent the seat on the JLP's ticket. He has won six consecutive elections since tasting defeat in his first outing in 1976.
Amazingly, Mr. Henry says this not his last general election and if the JLP bypasses him, he will run as an independent candidate.
"I have a young man sitting in my office, I have asked his son to stand by and push me in the wheelchair down to Parliament," Henry relates. "And I have asked the daughter of another one to have the blood transfusion holder so that when they push me down Duke Street, I am still going."
Karl Samuda (64)
Karl Samuda is one of the few Jamaican politicians to successfully play hopscotch.
He started his political career in Central Manchester with the JLP, switched to the PNP in the early 1990s and returned to the folds of the Labourites to contest the 1997 election.
"It is commitment and a sense of service that keeps me," Mr. Samuda, general secretary for the JLP attests.
He adds that he is driven by "the notion that one man can make a difference and I am planning to do so." As to how much longer he plans to remain in politics, Mr. Samuda hints that this could be his last lap.
Dr. Ken Baugh (65)
Chairman of the JLP, Dr. Ken Baugh, has been on the political scene for more than 25 years. A medical doctor by profession, Dr. Baugh started his political career at age 38 when he won the Western Hanover seat in the 1980 General Election.
He left active politics for eight years between 1989 and 1997 and has said that he intends to stick around until he can directly influence policy development and programmes.
Dr. Baugh, says it is "the feeling that we have an unfulfilled destiny in Jamaica," which is the impetus that fuels his continuous involvement on the political scene.
"Circumstances will determine when I give up politics. I would love to be in a position where we are taking the decisions, implementing the policies and making a difference to people's lives," he states.
