WE NOTE that both the Jamaica Labour Party's parliamentary committee and the Standing Committee have voted to retain Edward Seaga as leader of the party.This gives credence to the notion that no challenge to his leadership is in the offing even after the string of electoral defeats the party has suffered.
It seems to us, however, that at age 72, it is time that Mr. Seaga sets a schedule to step down, not from incapacity, but in the interest of an opposition vibrant enough to function effectively in the new and more balanced parliamentary chamber.
The JLP has lost four consecutive general elections 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2002. In all the previous 10 general elections since 1944, the Government has alternated after two terms. The JLP formed the Government on three occasions 1944-1955, 1962-1972, and then from 1980 to 1989. With this latest defeat they have been in Opposition for the last 13 years.
Something has clearly gone wrong with the ability of the JLP to attract the electorate, even in the face of economic crisis and evidence of social decline coupled with rising crime and violence.
Every analyst will have his/her own interpretation of the failure of the JLP to return to Government. But most analysts will agree, however, that the result of the 2002 election had more to do with a failure of the JLP and its leader to catch the imagination of the voters rather than the voters' belief that the PNP has been an outstanding performer.
Ever since Michael Manley repositioned the PNP as a centrist party, the JLP has been fighting unsuccessfully to establish a differentiated and exciting image.
In the absence of any ideological difference between the parties, the 2002 election was fought on the strength of the two leaders and of the individual candidates.
Patterson, 68, repositioned himself from being regarded as an ineffectual leader to being a statesman, regional champion, advocating law and order, harmony and an unselfishness reflected in his stated intention to step down. His repositioning was assisted by substantial advertising from the para-statal organisations, all of which were suddenly out there saying what fine things they had done.
Edward Seaga is one of Jamaica's most outstanding political leaders. He has served as leader of the JLP since 1974, as Prime Minister between 1980 and 1989, and as Leader of the Opposition from 1989. He is an excellent MP for West Kingston in which he spearheaded the spending of public funds to change 'Back-o-Wall' slum into Tivoli Gardens. Many of our finest public sector institutions were established under his leadership.
We wish Mr. Seaga well. He has done much for Jamaica. But it is time for him to hand over the JLP to a new leader.
