Beverly Anderson -Manley
IT HAS been a long PNP presidential campaign and it is amazing that the People's National party has not fallen apart throughout this often traumatic and intensely competitive process. This is partly to do with the origins and development of the party which was built by Norman Manley and his team in the 1930s. They built the party brick by brick. There is no other way to build and to have sustainability.
The fact that the PNP has a strong foundation does not mean that there will be party unity after the leadership race ends on February 25. It is possible that the tension existing between the Phillips and Simpson Miller camps could escalate. The Omar Davies and Blythe campaigns are above the fray. Whoever is chosen, the members of the PNP will have to call upon the highest virtue within themselves in order to maintain some semblance of unity.
The new leader must have the capacity to unite the party. This calls for leadership of a kind that P.J. Patterson gave after the last leadership contest between Simpson Miller and himself. It is a daunting task. When the new party leader takes over, he or she could be faced with four little PNPs. A test of their leadership capabilities is the extent to which the three losers can accept the democratic process and be gracious in defeat and the new leader can unite the party quickly.
COMPLEXITIES OF GOVERNANCE
Simultaneous with the healing and unity that has to take place immediately within the party is the capacity of the new leader to govern the State effectively. This is where the complexities of governance in today's world arise.
P.J. Patterson has already announced that he will remain Prime Minister until late March, 2006 - hence there is a carrying over period. In spite of this, the new leader is going to have to hit the ground running. There are so many issues to deal with: the WTO and sugar; the continued debt problem ; the rise in oil prices; the condition of our roads; flooding; high
levels of anti-social behaviour, and I could go on and on. This new leader is going to have to tackle them all.
A political party is in the business of winning not losing elections. Otherwise, it is more adequately described as a
pressure group. Disunited parties do not win elections. The JLP has demonstrated this well. The PNP has its eyes on the fifth term. The 1.4 million voters of Jamaica will be watching this new leader and the PNP closely, even as they watch Opposition Leader Bruce Golding and the Jamaica Labour Party to assess which is the best choice for Jamaica. The new PNP leader must be able to withstand this intense scrutiny.
HEALING THE PARTY
Delegates need to take these things into account before finally deciding who to vote for - who is best able to heal the party and effectively govern the country.
The new leader must see the best in the Jamaican people. Whoever wins, this new leader must be someone who can stretch himself or herself and his or her followers above petty squabbling and reach out to Jamaicans to change our minds about the ways in which we have chosen to live our lives. Our leaders need to create an atmosphere within which we can 'change the mindset' of the entire country!
NORMAN MANLEY'S EXHORTATION - 1962
In September 1962, in the book edited (with notes and introduction) by Rex Nettleford, N.W. Manley noted the need "to find a basis for a new dynamic."
Almost 47 years later, the political climate in Jamaica is cynical and sceptical. There is no doubt that an urgent imperative of the new leader is to engage in the process of transforming the political party so that new thinking and a "new dynamic" can emerge.
Time is not on our side. The new leader has to able to hit the road running.
Beverley Anderson Manley is a political scientist and
gender specialist. Email: BManley@kasnet.com.
