Mark Wignall | Senator Marlon Morgan leads the way

It is more the norm than the unexceptional that words with depth come to us as bigger than what the moment demanded. Usually, those words are delivered to us via the wisdom of a veteran politician/statesman.

In this instance, it is none other than Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Senator Marlon Morgan, one who could hardly be described as a veteran. Morgan is a political intellectual who understands when it is ideal to pull back on politics and the best time to opt for the national good.

Let me explain. At many times in the recent political history of Jamaica, from Portia in 2007 to Holness in 2025, blame has been selectively doled out with both political parties accepting their ‘bad’ roles in the IMF arrangement at those times. Surely, there had to be more than a kernel of truth in this great controversy.

And surely enough, there it was, plainly set out by the master intellect, Senator Morgan. It just so happened that as the IMF and the administration of the People’s National Party (PNP) went forward, an agreement was struck that the then opposition JLP would not use negative politicking to condemn the PNP IMF arrangement.

According to Senator Morgan, the Opposition, as led by Mark Golding in 2024 and 2025, is not the same as the Opposition that was led by Holness in the early part of Portia’s reign,

In other words, the Opposition leader in 2007 looked much deeper than winning the next election. The IMF, Portia, Peter Phillips, and Holness were all part of getting Jamaica to a place where we could, once again, eat cake.

TOO MANY MR BELLS

A friend told me that the Mr Bell who violently attacked the nurse in Kingston recently is connected to a powerful politician and has a reputation for being aggressive and engaging in road rage. A friend told me that in the last year, Mr Bell was upset at a fellow driver in Kingston and at a traffic light, got out of his car and banged on the window of a fellow driver in a very aggressive manner. The fellow driver was a woman. The woman did not open her window or car door and called the police frantically on her mobile phone. Mr Bell then got in his car and drove off.

His behaviour is horrible and vile. He should be in jail until trial. He is a loose cannon and should not be out and about in society. There are a lot of violent, angry people in Jamaica. “Mark, you know it is a very combustible environment. But in Jamaica, we all know it is who you know that will determine if you are held accountable. Mr Bell’s connections seem to be helping him.”

ELECTION-WIN STRATEGY

Were I the PM and the JLP, I would have have settled upon a strategy for the election. That strategy is reducing the murder rate and make a plea for a third term. Since the start of the year, the JCF has killed a lot of “alleged” badmen and gunmen. While I have not examined the statistics. intuition tells me that the number of police killings in 2025, so far, is far more than in 2022, 2023, and 2024. It may be a good selling point to the electorate. Surely 42 per cent decline is a huge selling point. For decades Jamaica has been plagued by murder and mayhem.

The murder rate is staggering. Reducing the murder rate no matter how it is achieved will be tolerated by the public because far too many Jamaicans live in fear and have suffered. But it is fraught with risk. If the JCF has been directed to shoot on sight and at will, the Jamaican Constitution and due process be damned. It means that the JLP has decided that they will seek to stay in power at any cost. That is not healthy for democracy and spells long-term grief for Jamaica. But what if that is the price voting Jamaicans are willing to pay?

THE LITTLE BIT JAMAICANS ARE WORTH

The broken-down bits of rough wood, supposedly workable benches. People use them because there is nothing else. It is at an entry point at the Kingston Public Hospital entrance, 7 a.m.

Across the road is the entrance to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital. The line moves and still it grows. A young man holds on to his grandpa as his feet fall away. At 7.30 a.m., the place is unopened. Even as the ramshackle benches empty out, a new gathering and another emergency line form.

Those who gather there at 7.30 a.m. are likely to be there at dusk at 6 p.m., seeking to find a bus to head home. We accept the trashy treatment because no better exists..

Surely there have been many studies done to determine correlation and/or causation between Jamaicans being made to feel like trash while seeking government services and the reasons why we are usually quick to resort to violence.

It works two ways. The nurses suffer under the stress. The sickly accept that there is no better.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.