Buddan
THE PERIOD of Government transition is that between the dissolution of Parliament and the convening of a new Parliament. Jamaica's most recent period of transition was therefore between September 23 and November 14. One of the hallmarks of a democracy is the success with which this process of transition takes place because it is the basis for legitimising Government. For legitimacy to be established, Government and Opposition must abide by a central rule of democracy that the losing side accepts defeat and allows the winning side to govern. This assumes that both sides accept the election results.
In everyone of Jamaica's 13 contested elections, the losing party has accepted defeat, often conceding on the same night, and the swearing-in of a new Parliament has occurred on schedule and according to process. Even though the elections of October 16 were the closest in 30 years, Jamaicans accepted the result and went on about their business the day after. The process of campaigning, casting votes, and counting and recounting ballots has been adhered to, the results accepted, the Opposition conceded, and the new Cabinet and Parliament sworn in. Others have noticed Jamaica's adherence to the rules of the democratic game, even under circumstances when some countries might not have held a smooth transition.
One foreign scholar had remarked: "It must have been difficult for Michael Manley in 1980 and Edward Seaga in 1989 to acknowledge defeat, but they did." He was commenting on the smooth tradition of constitutional succession in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean.
SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION
The fact that we have come to take a smooth transition for granted is a sign of the strength of our democracy. What if, in a cricket match, a batsman refuses to leave the field after being out? How could the game continue peacefully? The game depends on a series of smooth transitions as one batsman succeeds another. In fact, this process has become a metaphor for fairness. When people do not play fair, we say, "that's not cricket".
In countries close to us in the region, smooth transitions have not always occurred. In recent years, the legitimacy of Government succession has been in doubt in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and St. Vincent. The process of transition has disrupted the swearing-in of a new prime minister and Cabinet, parliaments have been boycotted, constitutional crises have arisen and demonstrations have been violent. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the story has been the same. In fact, Jamaica has sometimes been called in to help to negotiate a resolution to crises of legitimacy and in assisting countries to prepare for elections.
We have had election controversies in Jamaica. But these have never been used as an obstacle to the transition process. It is remarkable that even after the PNP boycotted the 1983 elections, its representatives on the Electoral Advisory Committee at that time turned up for the first EAC meeting only a week after those elections allowing the EAC to continue its work on a bipartisan basis.
The PNP questioned the legitimacy of the elections and therefore, of the Government. But it did not hinder the swearing-in of the prime minister, Cabinet and Parliament. It did not obstruct the process. The PNP felt that it had been wrongly "given out" but it allowed the game to continue. Manley, after all, understood cricket. The PNP did not hold demonstrations against the right of the Government to govern. Its participation on the EAC, in a sense, legitimised the transition process. Only two years later, Mr. Seaga himself could say that the relations between the two parties had been the best it had been for years.
SEPARATED CONTROVERSIES
The political parties have separated controversies over the morality of politics, campaigning and elections; and the basis for bipartisanship, from the legitimacy of Government. For this reason, Government transitions have proceeded without disturbance for over 50 years even while the parties quarrel over politics. This has allowed the country to have a Government. Party leaders over the years have recognised that this requirement to have a Government in place is the best security against anarchy, civil war, or military intervention at home or from abroad. They recognise that Government must continue in spite of politics. On October 23, a week after the last elections, the Prime Minister was sworn in; the Cabinet was sworn in on the 26th; Junior Ministers were sworn in on the 31st; and after election authorities had certified all the results, the 60 MPs and 21 Senators were sworn in on November 14. The new Parliament was convened on the same day. All of this happened without a hitch in just a month. Many democracies cannot claim this kind success in the transitions of their governments.
PARTY RELATIONS
The transition process has been aided by a commitment to bipartisanship between the two parties. At the level of party relations a lot has happened since the elections. Mr. Patterson's acceptance speech on the night of the elections extended a hand of friendship to the Opposition. He later said that his first priority was to settle the nation down. Mr. Seaga responded and by November 1st, the Vale Royal summits had begun and agreements reached.
These summits, the continued work of the EAC, the National Committee on Crime and Violence and the committees of Parliament mark the main platforms for a stable bipartisanship between the parties. The leaders of Government and Opposition Business in the House, Dr. Peter Phillips and Mr. Derrick Smith, are talking about changes in the procedures of Parliament that can give the Opposition a stronger voice.
This bipartisanship began before the new Parliament was sworn in and acted as a critical bridge between the previous and the new Parliament. This shows the independent importance of parties to the parliamentary process.
The parties are working outside and inside of Parliament to ease political tensions, allocate resources for MPs more fairly, fight crime, and share leadership of parliamentary committees. The Prime Minister has announced that the Government's new priorities are constitutional reform, Local Government reform, fighting crime and building national unity. The cementing of a new bipartisanship occurred within a month of the elections.The parties are often accused of being irresponsible. But their bipartisanship has already borne fruit. The JLP has supported the Government's new initiatives against crime and Derrick Smith has said that the Government can presume the JLP's support for its efforts to resume the death penalty.
The first month and a half have been successful in legitimising the Government and establishing the basis for inter-party governance. Elections in many other countries produce the opposite results. Governments fail to win legitimacy and party fights get worse. Since the 1990s, elections have been held over in Guyana, Trinidad, St. Vincent, Haiti and the Dominican Republic because they had failed to legitimise one party's right to govern. In Guyana and Haiti, opposition to the Government's legitimacy continues and political parties have failed to establish the ground rules to resolve their crises, leading to greater violence.
PARTY LEGITIMACY
Jamaica's success is further evidence of the consolidation of its democracy and provides new hope against decay or erosion. What has helped is the realisation by the parties that they must rise above being Government and opposition parties if they are to secure their own continued legitimacy in a political culture that has become strongly anti-political since the 1990s. The parties now strive to be seen to represent the larger national interest. For the JLP this is especially important. The party has been criticised for being too oppositional and confrontational and not constructive enough. Mr. Seaga has been criticised for being too partisan and divisive and not statesmanlike enough. For these reasons the JLP has been punished by being kept out of Government. Of course, the PNP has received its share of criticisms for putting its people first.
It helps the stature of both parties, Mr. Seaga as JLP leader, and in fact all aspiring leaders to adopt programmes for national unity and statesmanlike leadership if they are to be accepted as legitimate claimants to the right to govern. This is probably the most important condition for the current bipartisanship. The next battleground is the campaign to win control of local government.
The parties must maintain their present stance if they hope to win that legitimacy.
Robert Buddan is a lecturer in the Department of Government, Mona, UWI. E-mail: rbuddan@uwimona.edu.jm.
