Both major political parties have staged impressive annual conferences evoking competitive labels of 'maternity' - the PNP first claiming to have staged the 'mother' of all such gatherings, and the JLP obviously trying to go one better with a 'granny' label of their own.

This kind of numbers game, which has long been part of the political culture, reaches a climax in the logistics of staging the big conferences in Kingston. The vigorous engagement of political supporters, bussed in from across the island, has once again involved the flagrant flouting of the traffic laws and other hooligan behaviour that defies and falsifies the pre-conference declarations to the contrary.

Which brings us to the post-conference posture of the parties insofar as election campaigning becomes an urgent consideration. It is a concern that occupies the mind of a correspondent in today's Letter of the Day on the page opposite.

The most crucial factor of that concern is how soon will an election take place. In that regard, the present indications are that the Local Government elections, already postponed once, may well be set back again beyond the end-of-year target, despite the protestations of the JLP Opposition.

The present focus of the nation is on the coming Christmas season and thereafter, the anticipation will be on the Cricket World Cup tournament. If Christmas and cricket give pause to politics, the concern of our correspondent about the campaigning to come may be put on hold for the immediate future. But thereafter, the concerns need serious consideration.

The question to be asked - and answered - is to what extent the competition for political office in Jamaica needs to be modified to avoid a return to the worst episodes of political violence in the past. This matter is even more crucial since recent polls have indicated that both major political parties are evenly matched, pointing to a close contest. Bear in mind that the PNP has ruled for an unprecedented four terms and is seeking a fifth in office. The JLP must be approaching the next general election with more than a touch of desperation.

Given the political habits over many years, it is fanciful to expect that there will be any wholesale departure from the style of campaigning that our letter writer suggests - in effect substituting well-organised debates that measure the commitment of candidates to the full slate of challenges facing the society. Such a change is suggested to largely replace the street meetings that engage popular support in physical confrontations that could spin out of control.

We would of course welcome debates involving political candidates - most crucially, the party leaders who are leading for the first time in this capacity. But the people they represent must be part of the campaigning and be disciplined enough to shun the extremes that have fed violence in the past.

Much of that violence must have been spawned from the criminal linkages that have infected political activity and become part of the garrison phenomenon that persists in the volatile nature of some urban constituencies even outside of election times.

The coming election campaign must show whether politics in Jamaica has matured for better or worse.

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