Robert Buddan The People’s National Party’s (PNP) mass rally at Half-Way Tree onSunday, July 8, has attracted attention because of the election date announced, the size of the crowd and symbolism of the number seven. But, there was much more to the rally than these. The organisation of the rally reveals much about how the PNP wants to position and present itself for the next general elections. The rally was important for presenting the party’s 60 candidates but more importantly for positioning the party in the minds of the electorate.
The overarching theme of the rally was “not changing course”. At the same time, the party presented itself as the party of change. By this it means that it is not changing course as the party of change. This is a theme that all speakers stressed. There is good reason for this. The most common reason given by voters for wanting the PNP to get another term is for it to continue and complete its projects of modernisation. The PNP is, therefore, not simply responding to the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) call for a change of course. It is responding knowing that this is what many Jamaicans want. Staying the course to change Jamaica is consistent with PNP’s position not to stop the progress in 2002. One would indeed expect that a party in government should want to campaign on its programmes and record.
PARTY IMAGE
The PNP also presented itself as the party with the most popular leader. It is making Portia Simpson Miller the central figure in its campaign, as would be expected. Again, this is logical since the polls also show that a sizeable bloc of voters believe that Portia should be given her own mandate. They show that Portia would make a better prime minister than her opposite. She was presented as the person with the qualities to lead Jamaicans – charismatic, a people-person, and a woman from the grassroots. General Secretary Danny Buchanan concentrated his presentation on the party leader saying she had a record as the most-loved politician and the best performing minister over the years. Buchanan, Roger Clarke, and Angela Brown-Burke contrasted their leader with the Opposition, leader in these terms.
The PNP further presented itself as the party of diversity, particularly of women and of youth. The co-chairs (Angela Brown-Burke and Basil Waite) symbolised this. In addition, Jennifer Edwards and Andrew Okola both spoke on behalf of the women’s and youth affiliates. Lisa Hanna spoke as a young, professional, single woman. Party spokespersons made sure to mention the party’s role in lowering the voting age to 18 to bring young people into the electorate.
The PNP wants to be seen as the party of national mobilisation. It was not just the size of the crowd at the rally that mattered. It was the party’s ability to strike up popular enthusiasm and get people out;s that was important because it will want to be able to get its voters, especially women and young voters, out on election day.
The party wants to project itself as an effective national organisation. Not only did it present its 60 candidates, but its six regional chairpersons also spoke, as did vice-presidents Roger Clarke and Brown-Burke. This was especially important to show the party’s readiness to take back seats in the corporate area and the west, along with certain other seats that it has its eyes on. As a national organisation, the party connected with its history and the mission and achievements going back to Norman Manley and its founding in 1938. Again, the party wants to connect with its supporters whose loyalty is based on family traditions and with older voters whom the polls say are stronger supporters of the PNP.
The party presented itself as a mix of new and experienced candidates. It will field 24 new candidates, 40 per cent of the total. Some of these new candidates were given a chance at the podium (Natalie Neita-Headley, Delano Franklyn, Lisa Hanna, Paul Lyn and Luther Buchanan). The party wants to indicate that its potential parliamentary ranks are being significantly refreshed to dampen the view that it is a party of the same old faces, a view that the polls suggest it needs to dispel.
The PNP also projected itself as the party of social policies such as education, health and water, with Maxine Henry-Wilson, Horace Dalley and Fenton Ferguson all drawing attention to the Government’s emphasis in these areas. But speakers also located these and other such issues in the historical context of the party’s mission under Norman Manley, Michael Manley and P.J. Patterson, with the promise to continue the course under Portia Simpson Miller and her special emphasis on children and the family.
The party presented itself as a party of unity. P.J. Patterson, Peter Phillips and Portia Simpson Miller all sat together on the platform. The reception received by Patterson was particularly strong, evidence of appreciation of the unity between the former and present leaders, and of continuity in the party’s tradition. Portia Simpson Miller acknowledged the role of previous PNP leaders from Norman Manley through to P.J. Patterson, and included Marcus Garvey in the tradition of great leaders who sought to improve the lives of Jamaicans. Indeed, a survey by the Centre for Leadership and Governance (Department of Government, University of the West Indies) of July-August 2006 showed that these were the most popular leaders among Jamaicans.
CONNECTING ITS HISTORY
The connection with its history, popular leaders of the past and social progress all came together under the ’70s themes ‘forward ever’, ‘heavy manners’, and Trevor Martin’s My Leader Born Ya, mixed in with new themes from the 2002 campaign (‘don’t stop the progress’, ‘solid achievements’), and those of the 2007 campaign (‘not changing course’, Strength of a Woman).
All of this was conducted in an atmosphere symbolic of past victories such as holding the mass rally to announce the election date at Half-Way Tree Square, and using the popular phrase, ‘fly de gate’.
These many themes were woven into the rally. There was a real sense that the party wanted to present itself in connection with its history and with the popular classes. The rally was not just about political speeches. Music played an important part in expressing sentiments that reflect the PNP’s mission. An important form of Jamaica’s expression is ‘poetics’. This takes different literary forms, the most important of which is music, and includes religious poetics as well.
Mr. Seaga made two pertinent points in this regard last week. One was about the importance of music in Jamaican election campaigns and the other was about how social classes participate in these campaigns. Musical poetics is a popular form of folk participation that is just as legitimate as the formal means of reading and writing used by the middle class for understanding issues. These points are important to understand why the rally cannot be dismissed as pure political theatre. What well-conceived rallies do is include the poetics of the people and, in so doing, bring people into politics to allow that politics to present the message it is trying to get across.
■ Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, Mona, UWI. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm
