Ronald Thwaites | One hand can’t clap

Suppose we changed the seating in Gordon House and placed members in a semicircle rather than two opposing sides, with places in alphabetical order instead of party affiliation.

That would probably mean that Andrew Holness and Mark Golding would sit side by side. After all, ‘G’ and ‘H’ follow each other in the alphabet. Heresy, you say. Superficial? No. We use symbols to bespeak deeper intentions and reality.

Think again. When you sit beside someone regularly, it is likely that you begin to appreciate them more, share thoughts and avoid bromides about hypocrisy and bodily excretions. Factions might even become friends as we face the tsunamis of the age.

Shared Respect

More important, the sight of leaders and members mingling together would portray to increasingly cynical voters that everyone, despite differences, was really busy about a common cause and shared respect for each other. Insist that they get closer together, if only to recognise their interdependence.

Because the deceit about governance, which we all seem to concede, is that problems like crime and violence, education, economy and health can be tackled by one set of people, who, by writ of the electorate, are presumed to have all the wisdom, all the initiative, while the rest acquiesce, obstruct or yawn and sneer.

The Westminster style of two opposing sides glaring at each other, which we have adopted, is serving us poorly. The British developed it and we borrowed it on the presumption of a deep social contract which supercedes party differences.

We have no such mutual understanding, and need to reform how we relate to each other. Freedom and balance are not guaranteed by congenitally squabbling tribes eager for the other’s comeuppance. Even the humour is partisan.

And some of the most rabid tribalists are the partisans outside of Gordon House, to whom the theatre inside plays.

The National Consensus on Crime document lists as its first requirement for success, “bipartisan agreement”. Have you observed any signs that this is taking place? There were editorials last week in the two dailies calling on the Government to include the Opposition and other interest groups in the struggle against murder.

While blood is flowing freely, two signatories of the said national initiative were heard last week admitting that very little if any ground has been covered since the signing of the accord. Why? Peter Bunting relates that neither he nor the public at large are given access to the statistics and analysis of crime on any regular basis. The consensus effort, just like the Vale Royal talks, are in danger of becoming a ‘joke thing’.

None of this is surprising, because of the very low level of trust between the political actors from whom we take our cue. The ruling party really does not want to share the full picture on crime and other instances of executive inadequacy with the Opposition for fear of looking bad or giving fodder for criticism. So where does that leave the rest of us? Trust at all levels becomes the scarcest but most necessary element of effective governance.

Both Sides Needed for Recovery

The bald truth is that no one side can convincingly lead recovery of the Jamaican economy, let alone inspire repair of the rent fabric of social capital. The crises of inequality, under-productivity and the pandemic are beyond the capacity of any single administration, no matter their boasts of brilliance and efficiency.

Where are the broad and serious discourses on these crucial issues? For example, the nation is preparing for another national Budget in these toughest times without any meaningful engagement of how our money is to be spent. After a few hours of desultory questioning next month, the Government, whichever administration, gets to take whatever amount of money it dares out of our pockets; mortgages our grandchildrens’ patrimony by borrowing, and then disburses the proceeds as they see fit. Is that your idea of democracy?

All this when more than three-quarters of the electorate have expressed no confidence in the Government. And that number grows because we politicians sow the very self-disrespect which undermines our own credibility. The closest to consensus we have right now is the majority who distrust leadership and government, and lurch into a mood of callous individualism because there is no convincing common cause.

Two generations and more ago, different church denominations so encumbered themselves with historical squabbles that often they threw barbs at each others and circled the wagons of their doctrinal separateness. Most of that has changed now because leaders and followers alike realise that the higher cause of kingdom building, the compelling story of Jesus, supersedes the ambushes of sectarianism.

The highest national imperatives right now are how to tame COVID, wrestle the economy out of recession and lopsidedness; redo the lost education year; and staunch the blood-spilling of murderousness. We should be impatient with the ‘mouth-water’ commitment to unity and consensus in the face of these daunting but exciting tasks.

No one tendency, social or political, can do it alone. Truly, one hand can’t clap!

Rev Ronald G. Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.