Dirty side of politics

Martin Henry, Contributor

Between August 6, 1962, and today, May 23, more than 30,000 Jamaicans have been killed. Most of them in connection with the practice of the dirty politics of the country by the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The PNP is named first only because it was formed first. And we are staring down the barrel at more deaths caused by a corrupted political system, deaths among the security forces and citizens from any storming of fortified Tivoli.

The vision and idealism attending the launch of the PNP at the Ward Theatre on September 18, 1938, the centennial year of Emancipation, quickly wore thin. The party was formed as a conglomeration of progressive groups and individuals dedicated to the task of building a Jamaican nation. Its purpose was embedded in the name chosen. "It is called the people's party because it will unswervingly aim at all those measures which will serve the masses of the country," Norman Manley explained to the gathering at the Ward Theatre.

It is called national, Manley told the audience, because "if this country, if this little island of ours, is to be consolidated together and bettered, it must be by developing the idea of Jamaica as a national whole. And the party is pledged to the development of that national spirit."

"If we never desert our principles, if we believe in what we are aiming at, if we appreciate those who regard the country as their home, those who believe that a real civilisation is possible for people of mixed origins, if we never allow people to deflect us from our goals, those who would like to continue to live in the feeling that Jamaica is the grandest little country to make their living in (Vision 2030 now!), and the nicest country in the world to have a holiday in - if we can do these things and be true to what we believe in - then I believe", N.W. Manley declared that night, "that we will have launched tonight a movement which is like nothing else started in Jamaica, and make of this country a real place that our children will be proud to say 'we come from Jamaica'.

Norman Manley was not right when he declared, "mission accomplished", as he retired from the leadership of the party 31 years later in 1969. Yes, political independence may have been accomplished, but by then Jamaica had become a tribally splintered society and not a nation, and political violence had already become entrenched.

Alexander Bustamante, who was on the platform at the Ward Theatre that September evening in 1938, as the country's chief labour leader, broke from the PNP to form the Jamaica Labour Party in 1943. The JLP was formed to be the political voice and the political arm of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and the PNP followed suit to establish unions affiliated to the party. "Political unionism" has been one of the significant negative features of our political history.

But of the JLP, Busta declared shortly after winning by a landslide the first elections under Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944, "We are working to establish a balanced society in which all categories will get their fair share of the fruits of the land; a balanced society in which all the people involved will be compensated in relation to their ability and productivity; a balanced society in which adequate provision is made for those who are in need; a balanced society in which the maximum opportunity for employment is provided, a society in which the talents of our people will find an outlet in creative occupation. That, in a nutshell, defines the objectives of the JLP; and those objectives are confirmed not by resolutions, not by speeches, but by the record of work and the successes of the Government."

political victimisation

But the reality was that political victimisation and, with it, political/union violence kicked in from that very first administration under Universal Adult Suffrage. Obika Gray, having traced out the "fateful alliance" between political parties, trade unions, and gangs, in chapter two of his book, Demeaned but Empowered: The Social Power of the Urban Poor in Jamaica, said, "The foregoing account has confirmed that the use of violence as a political tactic to win elections, defend political territory against rivals, and secure representation of workers in the trade union movement, actually began in the 1940s and not in the 1960s, as some observers have been wont to believe. Thus, from the moment Jamaicans won the right to vote, and native politicians got the opportunity to become incumbents of state power, political violence became an organising feature of Jamaican politics."

Amanda Sives, in her chapter, 'The Historical Roots of Violence in Jamaica: The Hearne Report, 1949', in the book edited by Anthony Harriott, Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy draws the same conclusion: "By 1949, (the year of the first commission of enquiry into political violence in Jamaica) both political parties were engaged in violence to achieve political goals. While the violence was fairly low-keyed compared to what was to follow, "organised violence and the links with criminal elements were features of the political system during this period. These experiences of political participation formed through violence on the streets, whether political party or trade union-inspired, helped to define the way in which relationships developed between individuals, their parties and their government."

Bustamante, now national hero, was not above leading the fighting forces of the JLP/BITU in street skirmishes with their opponents. The Matthew's Lane 69ers, the first political gang in Jamaica, could not have emerged within the PNP in the 1940s without the knowledge and complicity of the leadership of the party. Reliable anecdotal evidence suggests that top legal talent facilitated name changes of gang members for migration to escape local prosecution.

The Daily Gleaner editorialised on November 11, 1949, that "Men who should be considered to be of high dignity too often appear in the company of persons known to be of evil reputation. The election is being conducted in some quarters as it cannot be won without the support of criminals."

That baby monster has grown into what we are confronted with today. The political parties proceeded to build garrisons which have become states within the state, as is now so amply demonstrated, and also the main centres of criminal violence and organised crime. The profligacy of the governments formed by these parties, partly to sustain political clientelism, has beggared the country, stifling growth and driving us into the arms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) again.

But as Gleaner cartoonist Las May so powerfully captured last Thursday (May 20) the crisis for the prime minister and Government, precipitated by the US request for the extradition of the 'community leader' from the prime minister's own political stronghold, has completely overshadowed the passing of the first quarterly IMF test with flying colours.

Tony Harriot's 'Editor's Overview' for Understanding Crime in Jamaica has a section on 'Crime and Politics' in which he discusses the multiple links between the two. This, he concluded, "raises the issue of the political parties being criminal organisations." Because, "while both parties have a record of developmental achievements", the resort to criminal means of gaining office, and the alliances with criminals that are used for this purpose, give criminal networks considerable leverage on the parties, and lead to the use of criminal means to systematically plunder the resources of the state once office is acquired. These activities of the political elite have profound implications for ordinary criminality, especially the normalisation of crime."

velvet revolution

The extradition matter, with the associated Manatt, Phelps & Phillips imbroglio, has triggered something of a velvet revolution. But I think the revolution is misguided in its excessive focus on having Bruce Golding's head. It is the entire dirty and rotten political system, which has given rise to the present difficulties, which needs cleansing and fixing. And Portia Simpson Miller, the current president of the PNP from her own stronghold in South West St Andrew, was right in telling her party not to gloat but to look in the mirror.

We should listen to Professor Anthony Harriott, the country's leading criminologist: Prevalent criminality (is) fundamentally a political problem requiring a political solution." And for this the political parties must be brought to heel by the actions of citizens, in our various configurations, citizens who have had enough - enough of bloodshed, enough of tribalism, enough of corruption, enough of economic stagnation, enough of political parties, which have consistently breached our trust. Just ask Bruce Golding, former president of the National Democratic Movement.

The prime minister and the MP for the 'mother of all garrisons', has survived to fight another day. We don't know for how long. Going forward, he has gone back to promises, among others, to "fast-track measures to reverse the institutionalisation of political tribalism and garrisons, as manifested in many constituencies across political lines, including my own constituency" and "enacting into law certain provisions of the Political Code of Conduct."

Martin Henry is a communications consultant. Feedback may be sent to medhen@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.