Delroy Chuck
WHAT IS the Opposition doing about law and order? Why is the Opposition so quiet? The Opposition should be offering solutions to ease the pain and suffering of the people, to reduce crime, to stop the decline of the economy, to erase the chaos and corruption, and to ensure that Jamaica is governed properly. Amazingly, the perennial and abysmal failures of this PNP government are constantly blamed on the Opposition JLP.
Isn't it interesting how abject excuses are found to relieve the government of any blame or responsibility for the dismal state of the country? If the country was doing well, if crime and murders were on the decline, if the economy was booming, and the country was making progress, no one would give any credit to the Opposition, so why blame the Opposition when things go awry? When it isn't the Opposition's fault, it is external factors or forces outside the control of the government for the country's problems. So, the Opposition is blamed for the failure to change the Constitution to facilitate the resumption of hanging, notwithstanding that from 1989 the government has failed to enforce the law, and one of the legacies now claimed for Prime Minister Patterson is that during his tenure there was no hanging.
Just reflect and assess how this government claims credit for every minutiae of success but deflect blame for any failure. When inflation was controlled to single digit, the government and its sidekicks heaped praise on Dr. Omar Davies' macroeconomic policies but, now, with inflation in double digits for three successive years, caused primarily by Dr. Davies' 'run wid it' expenditure, the fault is external prices such as oil, or acts of God such as hurricanes, and definitely not the government's fault! When the currency is kept stable at 36 to 1, the government claims credit for its stability but with the currency running away at 63 to 1, we will soon hear it is the fault of speculators.
FAILURE OF JLP
To be sure, the JLP has been in Opposition for too long and, as the alternative government, it has failed to win the past three general elections and can only watch while the country declines steadily. Commentators argue that the Opposition has failed to offer itself as an attractive alternative government, and therein lays the failure of the JLP to win government. Even now, it is argued that the Opposition has not offered solutions to the problems of the country and therefore cannot attract support. Now, get real, the last two manifestos of the JLP were easily the best blueprints for the country's future, and already are being poorly implemented by the present government.
In truth, the PNP is a fantastic political machinery and does everything rightly or wrongly to win general elections. Even now, its primary mission in government, I assert, is not to govern well but to remain in government. If it should win a fifth term, from day one it will start preparing for the sixth term. With a government preparing to stay in office at all costs, what chances exist for an alternative government to win any future elections? Sadly, this country needs to know and be reminded of how this government remains in office.
POLITICAL PLOTS
For example, the state assaults on Tivoli Gardens in 1997 and 2001, to any objective observer, seem to be planned political events for the impending general elections. In 1997, no guns, no ammunition and no gunmen were discovered or even seen during and after three days of operation, and only old women and children died. In 2001, the siege on Tivoli caused the death of nearly 30 persons, none of whom could be described as gunmen, and not even a public inquiry revealed convincingly that there were any gunmen firing at the security forces. Yesterday, on Tuesday, October 4, 2005, allegedly in search of two or three gunmen, Tivoli comes under siege, again. What about the hundreds of gunmen in Trench Town, Arnett Gardens or Maxfield Park, how come a similar operation is not conducted to apprehend these gunmen? Is this the preparation for elections?
Again, in order to keep the government in office, after the sacrifices to balance the budget, will there be another 'run wid it' election budget next year? What chances really exist for an alternative government, when the economy and the security forces are used illegitimately, dishonestly and as a part of the political machinery to keep the PNP government in office?
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
