- File
They are fresh, qualified and determined to make a difference. Above, eight of the new Members of Parliament representing the governing People's National Party and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, joke with each at a Gleaner's Editors' Forum held recently.
Andrew Smith, Staff Reporter
THOSE OF us who experienced the political tribalism and social upheaval which occurred between the 1976 and 1980 election campaigns have spent the last 25 years being deeply distrustful and cynical of all politicians.
A generation has grown up experiencing the fruits of the unholy alliance which united politics and bloody violence.
This marriage of inconvenience was concocted to allow political aspirants to obtain and retain power. It spawned a culture of crime, violence, drugs and corruption which spread from Kingston's slums to all echelons of society.
The resulting 'posses' and 'yardies' spread the worst of Jamaica to North America and the United Kingdom over the next 20 years. If you wanted to lose the respect of your peers, tell them that you are entering politics.
21ST CENTURY THINKERS
The general elections held last October 16 brought a new breed of persons into the House of Representatives who appear to be breaking ties with the past.
At last week's Gleaner's Editors' Forum, eight of the new Members of Parliament were in attendance.
From the People's National Party were Victor Cummings, Dr. Morais Guy, Dr. Neil McGill and Dr. Patrick Harris. Jamaica Labour Party MPs present were James Robertson, Dr. St. Aubyn Bartlett, Clive Mullings and Joseph Hibbert.
All of them hope to be remembered for the positive things that they do for their constituency and hope that their legacy will be painted in brighter shades of orange and green than their predecessors.
The first-timers in the House are intelligent, ambitious and appear to care about Jamaica and the people they represent. An indication of this was given by Dr. Morais Guy when he said, "There is a new approach to how we view representation. Not from a political point of view, but in terms of addressing the needs of the people. We feel we have something different to offer from what our predecessors and those older ones in Parliament have to offer."
The desire to change the modus operandi of their predecessors recognises that most Jamaicans including the new MPs themselves are sick and tired of political tribalism.
This was reaffirmed by Clive Mullings' reference to the "philosophy of abundance" which says that, "the more you give is the more that you are going to get."
He says that "once you start off with a world view that says, 'I must keep it close to me to preserve me', you end up losing."
The new way of thinking is, "I am a representative for PNP, JLP and no P, and once you try to be fair and the first question you ask is, 'what is your name?', not 'which party do you support?', it filters."
FIGHTING THE NEGATIVE
So how have things filtered down? Victor Cummings, MP for Central Kingston, made reference to what can be achieved "when you go out there and you speak to the people and they see that you are not afraid."
Referring to a recent meeting which included community leaders from Southside and Tel-Aviv, he said that, "together we sat down and we had lunch and the guys from South said I am the first PNP to ever get that kind of reception. It is because they have seen me and they see the approach that I take I am willing to deal with everybody regardless of their affiliation."
Enforcing political tribalism is done via guns. Regarding this issue, Dr. St. Aubyn Bartlett told his constituents, "I took a position as far as anything like guns, bullets and those kinds of things, don't ask me about it. If you get into problem handling guns, you are on your own if they find themselves in the lock-up, they know that this Member of Parliament is not going to take them out."
BUILDING THE POSITIVE
Education has long been recognised as the most effective way to develop a people.
Clive Mullings says that his focus is on education because "one of the major problems I am finding in my constituency, especially among young people, is the inability to read and write and to comprehend."
He has established the CARE Project (Community Adult Reader Education), similar to JAMAL to teach literacy skills to individuals. His concept is, "we are not focussing on having a school room setting we are trying to get volunteers so we can find persons who will invite persons to their homes so you don't run into the stigma of everybody knowing that you are going because you can't read."
All of the MPs at the forum mentioned the establishment of skill and job banks in the their constituency whereby they match skills with job needs.
Aside from skilled labourers, Dr. Neil McGill referred to the challenges needed to educate and train his constituents who are lacking skills and education.
Regarding this he says, "There is a greater resistance amongst the males than the females, the male would like to earn but he doesn't want to learn to earn.. .. You have to educate them about the necessity for learning to earn and the need to have sustainable skill or some education." This sustainable approach is alien to many of them because they "see the easy money from labouring and construction they get accustomed to the money, then the job disappears and then they become a problem because the levels of expectations are still high but there is nothing to sustain them."
FACING THE CHALLENGES
Many challenges face the new MPs. Apart from the aforementioned cultural resistance, others include accessing funds to operate their constituencies and obtaining co-operation from government agencies. James Robertson mentioned that since October 16, he has received no SESP funds.
This affects his ability to finance projects in his constituency. "All the requests I have received for any type of assistance I have written the people stating this fact (of no funds). I tell them that I am in support of their project, it is a noble concern and I will be there for them but...." The few projects which he has been able to work on have come out of his MP's salary.
The lack of co-operation from government agencies was affirmed by both Victor Cummings and Morais Guy.
They believe this is because they don't have the influence which makes the agencies want to assist them. Mr. Cummings said that he received more support when he was at Metropolitan Parks & Markets (MPM).
Now he says "the agencies don't pay as much attention to you when you are trying to get things done, you might, call, call, but they might decide to return your call or not."
To emphasise this, Dr. Guy described the following incident. "I went to a particular Government agency (to) pick up something for my constituency. When I went there I was drilled by the security guard -- and when I got to speak to the managing director or the executive officer's secretary, she put me on to somebody else who was not available. When I asked the operator to put me back to her she was at lunch and somebody else came on the line. I said I just spoke to her. 'well, she is at lunch'. I said to the person who came on, tell her that I am the same person Morais Guy, MP, who spoke to her a while ago and to advise her boss that I will not be coming back here to collect anything at all. 'Well, hold the line', I said, 'why am I holding the line?' 'well, speak to Miss.' I said 'but she is at lunch, she is not available to speak to me' and I hung up the phone and I told them I am not coming back there."
WHAT'S AROUND THE CORNER?
The eight new MPs are a sample of the new crop. Will they remain for the long haul and effect the changes which they hope to? Or will they follow other bright stars such as Peter Bunting and Danny Melville?
When the latter resigned in November 2000 after being a MP for three years, he described his role as a Parliamentarian as being defined "as an attender of funerals, a co-ordinator of patronage and a symbol of tribalism."
He also said that "I can no longer be a part of a system that glorifies mediocrity and denigrates any vision of excellence."
Jamaica is in dire need of a new vision from its elected representatives in order to lead its citizens from the quagmire which it is in. The new crop of MPs recognises this need and hope to be an example in unifying our citizens across the political divide.
Only when this is done we can start to reconstruct Jamaica after nearly 30 years of deconstruction.
