Hilary Robertson-Hickling

As the election draws near in Jamaica, it is important for us to realise that we cannot be cynical about those who wish to be our political representatives because we are entrusting them with our future and that of our country. We know that they are as good, as bad and as ugly as us because they are our brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, neighbours and schoolmates. The 120 persons or more who will eventually be selected as candidates have come from a variety of backgrounds. Many have known hunger and experienced adversity and prejudice, some have been children of the privileged and others beneficiaries of the patronage which is weighing us down while enriching others.

However, we need to hold them to a higher standard as they aspire to lead us in a difficult and complex world. They will make mistakes but we hope that they will be of the honest kind, and we must insist that they are honest and honourable. For too long we have been tolerant of bad behaviour which has put the political process into disrepute. The promotion of anancyism, violence, dependency and underdevelopment are symptomatic of the lack of confidence that has defeated us.

Develop winning confidence

We should be developing the kind of confidence that Garvey described, which will allow us to win even before we have started. Only one of our National Heroes attended a brand name school, and that was Norman Manley who attended Jamaica College. Some of the rest were self-taught or had very little education, and yet they used their intelligence and placed it in the service of the nation. It is not where you come from as much as who you are which is important. The calibre of some of those who wish to put themselves forward should not be related to their possessions or their ancestry, but the content of their character and a desire to serve the country, not themselves only.

The record of service of those who have benefited most from Jamaican resources is dismal. Instead, we have depended on those who have contributed what they can with the little that they have. Too many have raised their children with a sense of contempt for this country who then find themselves floundering in the metropoles which treat them with scant regard.They become more Jamaican when they go abroad.

Support servant leaders

We need to identify and support the servant leaders in the country and treat them with greater respect. There is no room for arrogance and incompetence in our future. In fact, we are now five years away from our nation's 50th birthday and we have got to seriously transform the country.

The management of the country's affairs must be based on sound and informed policies, made with the help of the most skilled people available in the world. Aspirants to leadership must not only be skilled and knowledgeable but also people of impeccable character. We must be proud of our origins and we must know our strengths and weaknesses, and we must be prepared to work to develop the country of which the majority of us are citizens. We have got to stop being ambivalent about Jamaica and we have to realise that no other country on Earth wants us, so we have to find a way to make Jamaica work.