THE ELECTION of Portia Simpson Miller as president of the People's National Party (PNP) and de facto first female Prime Minister of Jamaica represents what students of classical Greek would call a kairos.
It refers to a moment in which we are presented with a critical opportunity for decisive action. It is a moment that is filled with expectation and hope. It is a moment that could result in a new dispensation.
This kairos, however, is a risky moment because it can be misused and failure to take advantage of it will only serve to engender hopelessness and lack of faith in the political system.
MISUSING THE KAIROS
The kairos can be called new because it is not the first time in which the political landscape has arrived at such a moment. Maybe the most recent one prior to this was when Bruce Golding formed the National Democratic Movement (NDM).
Although it was not the first time that a third political party emerged in Jamaica, the NDM called attention to itself because of the rhetoric that Mr. Golding and the leaders espoused.
They suggested that the movement wanted to resolve political tribalism, which has been a thorn in the flesh of our politics. However, the NDM went astray and lost the potentials presented by that opportunity.
In my view, the first of the reasons why it failed was that the rhetoric did not get translated into concrete political acts in the communities.
The second of the reasons was that the leaders suffered from illusions of grandeur, believing that they could short-cut their way to taking controls of the reins of management at Jamaica House.
The first failure evidenced a weakness in demonstration and the second failure evidenced a weakness in discernment and judgement.
I hate to say this but I am not sure whether Mr. Golding has as yet emerged from under the cloud of these failures.
However, weak performance and poor judgement are not the exclusive property of the NDM. In fact, one could say that these are two deadly sins that are safely lodged under many chairs in Gordon House.
It is possible for these sins to take root and beset the political representatives because there is no system by which we can assess and penalise or reward them for their performance before the next election, by which time we are suffering from amnesia.
The 17th century philosopher Comenius proposed that to deal with these two deadly sins there should be an annual, statutory public ceremony where all office-bearers would give the community an account of their actions. In his view: "Those whose administration seems com-mendable ... should continue in office or be promoted to more responsible posts; but those who are faulted for their conduct should be demoted or dismissed (so that those who did not know how to rule may learn how to accept the rule of others) and their places taken by others more suitable." [Comenius, Panorthosia xxiv]
It is proper that, at this kairos, when a new Cabinet is being considered, we call attention to this issue of the accountability of political representatives.
The abstention of a significant percentage of the electors at election time seems to suggest that the concerns that people have go beyond the issue of choosing representatives.
If what Comenius had to say over 370 years has any significance for today, it is that people who choose representatives are also concerned about the system that exists for assessing and recalling them.
The apparent loss of interest of voters may well stem from the fact that the political representatives can fail to perform without any serious or immediate consequences.
It is, then, possible for people to be re-elected even though they have not performed.
The euphoria in the election of Mrs. Simpson Miller has to do with a desire for a new day to dawn in our political landscape, absolved from its sins. This messianic hope increases the consequences for failing to deal with weak performance and poor judgement.
In fact, Madame PM would want to ensure that these sins do not take residence under her chair also. Moreover, since the PNP is not new and different, the leadership would be unwise to expect an extended period of grace and honeymoon. 'Mama P' will have to hit the ground running.
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
Whether Mrs. Simpson Miller likes it or not, her successful bid for the top job in Jamaican politics has brought about a kairos. As of this moment, her personal performance and judgement will become the main course of the diet of our daily conversation.
I would encourage her to read again the biblical story of Esther, whose rise to royal dignity coincided with a crisis in her ethnic group, which was being persecuted at the hands of officials of the Persian state.
Esther faced two options:
Either to keep silence in the face of the suffering and preserve her royal position or
To address the issue of the suffering of her people and risk being condemned with them.
She chose the latter, no doubt, bearing in mind what her uncle said to her: "If you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise ... from another quarter, but you and your father's house will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you came to the kingdom for such a time as this."
Dr. Livingstone Thompson is a Jamaican theologian lecturing in the Republic of Ireland. He may be contacted at lthompson@citc.ie
