Overthrowing the traditions of the body, Chris Zacca and Bill Clarke have stepped up their open campaign for the leadership of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), aggressively selling themselves in letters and brochures to members of the organisation.
In an October 31 letter to prospective voters Zacca, an aide to hotel mogul Gordon "Butch" Stewart, sought to portray himself as a defender of PSOJ traditions, against Clarke's proposed constitutional changes, which he claims, will split the private sector.
"Proposals for constitutional reform should not be allowed to change and unravel decades of effective private sector lobbying and leadership," Zacca says in his letter.
Clarke, on the other hand, has sought to position himself not only as a man with a track record of substance, but as a visionary leader, willing to embrace change and to widen the reach of the PSOJ.
Significantly, too, Clarke, the CEO of Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica, has subtly attempted to send a message that he will be his own man, which private sector watchers say is meant to imply that if Zacca wins the presidency of the PSOJ, it will in fact Stewart pulling the strings from the rear.
Clarke, in his brochures, sent out this week, makes specific mention of neither Zacca nor Stewart, but quotes from a PSOJ by-law that "there shall be no attendance or voting by proxy at any meeting of the organisation".
"That clearly is a statement to the members to say that if you vote for Zacca you are really getting Butch Stewart, his boss," said a PSOJ insider.
When the PSOJ votes for its new president in December, it will be the first time in the organisation's more than three decades of existence that the leadership will be subject to an open contest. In the past there has been backroom deliberations and a new president agreed on by consensus.
Initially, it appeared that this would be the case of the successor to Beverly Lopez, who is completing two terms of boss of the private sector umbrella organisation.
Clarke was identified as her potential replacement and a shoo-in for the job.
But he ruffled feathers by indicating that if the took the post he wanted a free hand to name vice presidents and key officers. More important, he would push through constitutional changes to overhaul the way the organisation is run.
It is this, says Zacca, that has caused him to "throw my hat into the ring".
Among Zacca's main concern is what he identifies as Clarke's plan to reduce the representation by trade and business organisations of the PSOJ's council Ñ the 50-member body that effectively runs the institution Ñ from 50 per cent to 20 per cent, while increasing that of individual firms from 40 per cent to 70 per cent.
"The proposed changes to the constitution will significantly diminish the voice of the associations on the council and will have the effect of expanding the wedge between the PSOJ and private sector associations such as the JCC (Jamaica Chamber of commerce) and the JM (Jamaica Chamber of Commerce," Zacca says in a fact sheet.
Not only would he unify the private sector, but would bring firm but non-confrontational and "apolitical leadership" to the PSOJ, said Zacca, the vice chairman of Stewart's ATL Group, who was president of Air Jamaica when Stewart was in control of the airline.
Stewart is current at loggerheads with the government over its management of Air Jamaica since it re-acquisition at the end of 2004 as well as who was responsible for huge cost-overruns at a hotel operated by his Sandals chain that was built in partnership with two government agencies.
It is apparently sensing concern that he might be inclined to use the platform of the PSOJ to attack the government as part of the ATL/Sandals agenda that Zacca sought to make his "apolitical" position clear.
"I will use my leadership style and abilities to energise the organisation and strengthen its appeal to the new generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs within whose hands the future of our nation really lies," he says.
Clarke, on the other hand, sees himself as one of those who helped to shake the current PSOJ but is not blind to the need for reform.
"Today, the PSOJ is at a critical turning point, faced with a growing feeling of disenfranchisement amongst some of its wider membership," he says. "We can choose to accept the status quo or accept the responsibility to change it; to be guided by the past or to be constrained by it."
His intent, therefore, is to make the PSOJ "more inclusive and truly representative of the interest of all private sector entities across the length and breath of Jamaica".
In his separate vision statement does not address head-on the concern that his proposed changes would rattle existing member associations. Rather, he insists that the plan to create a new 1st vice president and two additional vice presidents would allow "representation by member associations in the decision-making process".
Additionally, he would see to the appointment of officers from across Jamaica "where new members will be invited to join the organisation" Ñ a seeming suggestion that the PSOJ, as currently configured, is too Kingston-centred. New officer honorary officers positions would also be created to attract subject experts to the PSOJ.
Added Clarke: "The governing body of the PSOJ is also the council of the PSOJ and it is the council that elects the officer corps. The council is elected as the annual general meeting. Therefore, electing the council from a wider cross-section of stakeholders is the only certainty that the officers elected each year to guide the PSOJ will represent the interest of all its members."
- business@gleanerjm.com
