It appears Don Anderson’s recent polls have disconcerted Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) leader and Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness. His recent statements, both at Gordon House and on the campaign trail, have become increasingly combative, vitriolic and bellicose, particularly when he launches verbal attacks against the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), which he blamed for all the ills that have befallen Jamaica since the developing country embarked on the path to self-determination 62 years ago.

In this regard, he has cleverly coined the word “PNPism”, a negative nomenclature which one suspects he hopes will stick like thick mud on a wall and help influence the Jamaican electorate to he is sufficiently convinced that Jamaica should never have been nicknamed “”PNP country” in the first place, as the comrades argued.

There is no doubt that the Mark Golding-led PNP may well respond with a series of negative criticisms of Jamaica’s governance under a JLP government and dub it “JLPism”.

A few years ago, when former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, in an attempt to sell the idea of ​​a values ​​and attitudes campaign, lamented the fact that the nation was divided into two warring tribes that seemed to be perpetually at war (or comments to that effect). Of course, these tribes were and still are the JLP and the PNP. Since the granting of adult suffrage on November 20, 1944, which guaranteed the right to vote to all adults (at first the age was 21 and over, but this was later changed to 18), regardless of their race, gender or social class, Jamaica has evolved. into a parliamentary democracy that, for the most part, has remained healthy and vibrant, in part due to an essentially two-party system.

Ironically, it was initially a family affair since the leaders of the JLP, Sir Alexander Bustamante, and the PNP, Norman Washington Manley, were cousins. Unfortunately, as the fight for meager profits and spoils intensified, the warring factions of both parties not only resorted to inflammatory words, but embarked on a path of bloody violence that reached its climax. during the run-up to the 1980 general elections, which saw many party supporters murdered, driven from their homes by fire and victimized.

With this in mind, it is fair to say that PJ Patterson deserves credit for helping to defuse this extremely antagonistic approach to our partisan politics, which saw a gradual decline in bloody wars during his reign in the 1990s. Much of this success is due to his demeanor, as he has been calm, measured and rational on the platform and in the House of Representatives.

Frankly, Prime Minister Holness needs to take a cue from PJ in this regard, to ensure that during this current “silly season” leading up to what will be a crucial and crucial general election, the country does not descend into another “tribal war in Babylon.”

There is no doubt that Holness is a very ambitious man with a big ego and one of his main quests before leaving the political scene is to win a third term for himself and his party – a feat that only Patterson has achieved so far. ‘now. But even as he aims for that major political prize, he must keep in mind that in any thriving democracy, parties and their leaders win and lose, subject to the will of the electorate. And one of the pillars of this proven democratic process is that it abhors authoritarian rule or any desire on the part of a leader to move towards a dictatorship.

To suggest, therefore, as some fanatical comrades have done in the past, that only one party is good for Jamaica and that party should be in power in perpetuity is at best delusional and at worst dangerous. In the final analysis, the JLP has accomplished a lot since its return to power after a prolonged 18 and a half years in power of the PNP. But we must not impose on the people that nothing worthwhile was achieved during this period. Indeed, it can be said with all honesty that what this JLP administration now inherits, in terms of fiscal space which has enabled it to carry out many projects under the able leadership of the former Minister of Finance and Civil Service, Dr Nigel Clarke. , has to do with the foundations that were laid at great political cost by Dr. Peter Phillips, whose time at the wicket has now helped pay many dividends to this administration. After all, all is fair in love and war!

The Prime Minister must be very angry and agitated when he sees himself and his party slipping in the polls after all the wonderful things they claim to have accomplished and he may well say behind closed doors that the Jamaican people have been ungrateful and even nasty. JLP MP and Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck is said to have recently remarked on a JLP op-ed that “money is jingling in people’s pockets”, a statement most laughable to some, because the harsh reality is that the The prosperity train has not yet reached the majority of citizens. ordinary, low-income, middle-class Jamaicans who live hand to mouth due to the high cost of living and who live in fear due to a still high crime rate and a society that is collapses due to crude practices. indiscipline and moral decadence, not to mention corruption above and below.

Yes, it is safe to say that on a macro level the Holness administration has been very successful, but when it comes to concrete issues, Holness should be fully aware that he and his party are in trouble; hence the results of recent polls which showed that they weighed in the balance and proved insufficient. This is not propaganda, this is reality.

In this context, the JLP leader should moderate his fiery rhetoric because it would suggest that he is afraid. In the meantime, he must crack the whip in his own camp, because many of his MPs and advisors have failing grades and are simply waiting to win their seats by hanging on to his coat, instead of becoming disciples of the prosperity, go into the paths and hedges to preach the gospel according to Brogad.

Meanwhile, the JLP leader’s approach to the PNP could help set the stage for a very warlike campaign that could even recall what happened in 1980, with all the weapons that exist and with so much of issues. , including the emergence of Mark Golding who is seeking his first term as victorious leader of the PNP.

Let the campaign be more about policies and programs, ideas and vision, bearing in mind that ultimately Jamaica will need both Labor and Comrades, including the many citizens not committed to making this country great. One hand can’t clap, Holness.

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Lloyd B Smith has been involved in Jamaican media for 49 years. He was a deputy and vice-president of the House of Representatives. He hails from Western Jamaica, where he is affectionately known as the Governor. Send your comments to the Jamaica Observer or [email protected].