Ian Boyne
Ian Boyne
CLIFF HUGHES, in my view the country's finest newsman, got it terribly wrong last week. After Bruce Golding delivered his finely crafted, strategic and surgical campaign launch speech at the Jamaica Conference Centre last Tuesday, which Hughes' radio programme 'Nationwide' wisely carried in full, the ace journalist dropped the ball analytically.
"Missed opportunity" is how he assessed the much-anticipated Golding speech, delivered before a packed, enthusiastic and emotionally charged group of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters. According to Hughes, the 59-minute speech was too long and dull, and had failed to set out a vision for Jamaica. Surprisingly, his usually sharp co-host Carol Narcisse followed him with that same line of superficial and sloppy analysis. Hughes must be careful that his analytical skills not trail too far behind his news-gathering and interviewing skills.
Golding did not waste a minute in that speech, but, unfortunately, to the MTV generation any speech over 10 minutes is much too long. (As is any article over 100 words!) But this was not Golding's audience. He can arrange for the sound bites for that generation at another time. This was a speech to party delegates and party supporters in a party plagued by divisiveness, bitterness and mean-spiritedness. The first order of business is healing and that was what Golding dealt with first, in a most charitable, gracious and fitting tribute to outgoing JLP Leader Edward Seaga.
UNIQUE CONVENTION
The well-choreographed convention not only had speakers paying tribute to Seaga, with vigorous applause from the audience, but Golding himself asked the audience to stand as a mark of respect to the Leader.
Golding could have used the
opportunity to throw barbs at Seaga and could have answered the Seaga criticisms of his leadership skills. He did no such thing, and in 59 minutes of speech he came across with humility, resisting the bravado, aggrandisement and demagoguery so often the occupational hazards of politicians. His explanation as to why he felt compelled to leave the party was also carefully nuanced and measured, making sure to say his disagreements were with 'the party', not singling out the Leader.
In the speech Golding made it clear that his campaign was still being waged on the platform he built in the National Democratic Movement which he founded in 1995 after leaving the JLP.
IN PERKINS' CORNER
Indeed, the speech has already accomplished one important thing: It has, as it were, brought the previously 'estranged lover' Wilmot Perkins back in the arms of Golding. The public making-up was there for all to see on Thursday morning when for the first in a long time, Golding was invited on 'Perkins On Line' for old times' sake. Winning back Wilmot Perkins, one of the most influential voices in the Jamaican media, is a significant strategic victory. Perkins said the speech was excellent. The speech had, indeed, hit some critical targets.
Golding boldly took on the challenge of uniting the party, making the significant statement that it is "we who lead the party who must be primarily responsible for uniting the party, and I am committing myself to doing that". Officially disclaiming the tradition of the generalissimo leader, bequeathed by Alexander Bustamante, Golding said aptly, "We must demonstrate that we are not just a leader and a party, but a leader with a team in a party. Full time now!" A new style of party leadership was officially launched on Tuesday.
Golding also reached out appropriately and graciously to the two men who also want to lead the JLP, Pearnel Charles and Audley Shaw. His assurance to them and their supporters that they would be included in a Cabinet led by him was well-timed and a good symbolic indication of his seriousness about his commitment to party unity.
Golding also said something important which should not be overlooked: That the party should be defined by a set of ideals, not just in terms of what it is opposed to. In other words, Golding wants to bring respectability to the notion of philosophical commitment in a party known for utilitarianism and individualism. I say, full time now! But I suggest to Golding that that set of ideals has to go beyond vague ideas about Justice, Liberty and Progress (JLP). The PNP stands for those things, too, and so did the communist Workers Party of Jamaica. But how each party sees those broad ideals is what determines its ideology and philosophical commitment.
DETAILING VISION
While Golding did not spend time detailing his vision, it is not true that he did not do so. The last two pages of his written speech does exactly that. He touched on something vitally important and which I have been stressing for years: "Finally and above all," he said, "we must as a priority ensure that we as a party offer a clear vision of the future we intend to build for the Jamaican people. A country without a vision that is understood and shared by the people cannot go forward."
This was one of the most profound and far-reaching statements in the entire speech. And Golding's point that no two Jamaicans could give the same answer to the question of what is the vision which informs the policies and decisions of the PNP Government is a serious challenge to the PNP a party which had traditionally taken ideology very seriously. It is good that ideology is being put back on the agenda. And, ironically, from within the JLP.
The Golding speech again demonstrated an unacknowledged strength which he possesses: his ability to speak to the concerns and issues of the average Jamaican, particularly those in the urban centres. While Golding is not charismatic in the traditional sense of the word, he is an effective communicator who has a rare ability to connect with and articulate the deep concerns, anxieties and frustrations of people. The reaction of many callers to the talk shows that stoutly rejected Cliff Hughes' suggestion that Golding missed the mark showed Golding had, indeed, hit home.
Golding played to the gallery by speaking feelingly about young girls who are leaving school without finding jobs; about Jamaicans living in fear because of rising crime levels and about people employed not able to make ends meet. "If you want to know the troubles that people bear, the stress that they live under, just stop at any intersection in Cross Roads or Four Roads, Sam Sharpe Square or May Pen Square and study the faces of ordinary people as they pass by. You will see the anguish, anger, fear and frustration in their eyes." Boring, dull speech?
He talked about the frustration of people's submitting many job applications with references, recommendations, etc. only to hear, 'we will call you' but "no one ever calls instead of young people being able to take care of their parents (that is how it used to be), parents are having to take care of young people long after they have ceased being young people. When will they ever get their chance to 'step up inna life'?" Golding was polemically strong but he also took risks with his credibility among thinking people by some crudely propagandistic statements.
PROPAGANDA POLITICS
It is full time now that the JLP move away from the old-style propaganda politics which scores points among the die-hards and disillusioned, but which take liberties with truth. I understand the need to propagandise before party fanatics, but there is absolutely no justification for a patently untrue, irresponsible and uncalled-for statement such as "the PNP's economic strategy is not about development, not about facilitating investment, creating jobs and expanding opportunities. It is about how to repay the crippling debt how to satisfy creditors, how to make them comfortable."
It is a fact that the economy has not been expanding employment as it should but this is not due to the wickedness, mismanagement or incompetence of the PNP Government. The employment crisis is one faced by the entire Latin American region which is a phenomenon of the jobless growth neo-liberal model which has been foisted on the region by the Bretton Woods institutions. The same model which the JLP would be forced to follow to receive credit.
Golding should look at the 2004 Inter-American Development Bank's Economic and Social Progress Report (Good Jobs Wanted) to see the extent of the employment crisis. And Latin America has been the poster child of neo-liberal reforms and responsible economic management.
LEVEL OF EXPLOITATION
It is full time now that we stop exploiting the ignorance of people for cheap political gain. If you are new and different, you can't come the same old political trickery and cheap propaganda. When Golding talked about the PNP's "destroying 29,000 jobs in agriculture and 32,000 jobs in manufacturing", he failed to note that the structural transformation of an economy would naturally see people leaving the agricultural sector for other areas a positive sign in an economy, plus the fact the market takes care of certain inefficient operations. Besides, global conditions have affected and continues to affect Jamaican agriculture.
In manufacturing, a great deal of the job losses had to do with the global repositioning of the apparel sector and the decreased attractiveness of Caribbean countries vis-a-vis Mexico as a result of the NAFTA Agreement. Yes, there were indigenous factors, too, but it is simply irresponsible posturing to ignore the total context. Besides manufacturing has been rebounding, according to just-released figures with which Golding should be familiar.
STRONG WORDS
One can understand pandering to the partisans at a political convention but Golding made some statements which could be troubling to the international money market and the multilaterals. He castigated the Government harshly for committing itself resolutely to honour its international debt obligations and sounded like a fire-brand populist who was ready to signal to the international community that an incoming JLP Government might not be so scrupulous about repaying the debt.
At a time when business confidence is strong in Jamaica and when the private sector has never been more bullish; when the balance of payments has been significantly realigned and when exports have increased handsomely; when the international capital markets are responding with enthusiasm to the Jamaican economy and when there are buoyant prospects in tourism, bauxite and infrastructural development, and when local and foreign investments have been accelerating, to speak as though we are in the throes of an economic crisis is to be disingenuous.
Yes, the economic benefits are not trickling down to the masses and the agonies he so aptly described were not exaggerated. But that is the problem faced by all developing countries following the Washington Consensus model of development which the JLP Government would also have to follow. It is full time now that no attempt be made to fool the Jamaican people and to exploit their legitimate suffering for political gain. Golding should be the change he wants to see in Jamaica.
One thing is certain: Bruce Golding has brought back excitement, energy and hope to Jamaican politics and has ensured that for the next three years we will not have a complacent PNP Government.
Ian Boyne is a veteran
journalist. Send comments to ianboyne1@yahoo.com.
