Shalman Scott, ContributorWITH ALLEGATIONS that flew right, left and centre about bribery in some instances and intimidation in others of delegates during the recent People's National Party (PNP) presidential race, the politically uninitiated may have been left to wonder about what was happening in the PNP. Well, nothing much!
What the public witnessed was nothing more than age-old political tactics being turned inside on a party instead of the usual process of its displacement on the opposition. Indeed, nothing that was said by way of accusation of vote buying and intimidation was unfamiliar territory within the landscape of political electioneering.
What was different is that we were unaccustomed to seeing the PNP, in particular, washing its dirty linen real or contrived in public. So the problem was more one of what we have to come to expect from the PNP as opposed to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) which was seen for a long time as a mutinous war boat.
TOO EARLY FOR CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is too early to take the happenings within the PNP, and by equating it with the JLP, come to the conclusion that the PNP will become just as fractious as the JLP once was. That position, I suggest, will simply be too premature.
For, what each campaign wanted everybody else to take seriously and, hopefully, by so doing to create a political advantage over the competition, the campaign already knew deep down that most of the accusations were nothing more than exaggerated gamesmanship.
In any case, that is exactly what campaigns are for to plan misinformation, policies and strategies to manipulate the emotions of voters to ensure that their candidate becomes or remains the preferred choice.
The strategising will also include, sometimes, an exit or an excuse tactic where the election process itself is to be discredited if their candidate loses.
The political brinkmanship that was featured in the PNP will prove, with the passage of a short time, to be like a mirage that disappears as a by-election or general election approaches.
Additionally, as the JLP, through political sharp shooters such as Audley Shaw, jumps anxiously to capitalise on what is seen as PNP internal problems, the unleashing of the JLP's external pressures will create and foster a quicker process of PNP internal cohesion.
And so the games continue in a manner and with the character of all the previous politically competitive engagements witnessed in this country: one in which
voters trick politicians, politicians trick voters, candidates outwit and out-organise one another in a moving circus of anansism, sleight of hand and prickly political trickery.
VICTIM OF OWN MACHINATIONS
Sometimes the trickster even ends up becoming the first victim of their own machinations, thereby creating a difficult situation from which there is no easy escape. Take the story about one side letting off ton loads of cash to bribe delegates.
This has not only created a firestorm, but has raised the level of expectation of most delegates to be given some inducements, and this includes the expectations of those delegates supporting the side which started the rumour. But even worse, the
delegates themselves are using the arguments of inducements to increase their bargaining power in respect of the level of inducements expected and, therefore, have various campaigns compete to offer more to the delegates than that of the others. The delegates have never had it so good!
MONEY, ATTENTION IRRESISTIBLE
No doubt some of these delegates harbour the thoughts of having another PNP presidential race shortly after this one finished on February 25. Money and attention combined motivators within the context of our materialistic existence are irresistible. Some delegates have in their possession the T-shirts with photographs of all four candidates, and these T-shirts are worn to the respective candidates meetings or to their office when a favour is needed. Lots of favours are needed during election time in Jamaica, and demands will even be worse in the future as the economic and moral situation in the country deteriorates further.
Do not listen to any politician from whatever political persuasion who wants to convey the impression that this perhaps unfortunate practice is not part of their tactical political arsenal.
If that were true, then such a politician would have been facing an almost impossible situation in which he or she has no access to money or other forms of resources.
In the end, it was the con-artistry of the delegates which took the cake. Every contender, after interacting with the delegates and looking at crowd response, was left with the feeling that he or she was the winner!
Shalman Scott is a political analyst.
