Caribbean election mirage – More of the same

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The recent election in Jamaica set the stage for future elections across the Caribbean with a disaffected populace not only by the existent state of each particular country but the available candidates or parties.

In Jamaica as ridiculous as it may seem for anyone to claim a victory with less than half of the two million voters or forty per cent taking part in this overvalued democratic exercise. Sixty per cent did not participate, as did millions of Jamaicans in the diaspora.

The present government of Jamaica took office by a margin of less than one per cent of the popular vote or less than ten thousand ballots across sixty three constituencies. The big island is looking more like Goat Island holding on to some seats by as little as 79 votes and losing many seats by as little as eleven votes.

Having said that compliments have to go to a thrice and continuously elected prime minister under the shadow of a integrity inquiry as well as replacing a convicted former Speaker of the house with his wife. Small islands have no such leverage like a recent Premier of the Cayman Islands lasting just only two years after being toppled by a palace coup.

No such luck for the opposition in the Jamaican parliament as their opposition roam around as silent as sheep. No plotting or scheming there.

Perhaps the difference in parties or party leaders is that their policies are not as wide as Trinidad and Tobago which saw Keith Rowley act as prime minister for two terms before being deposed by the present prime minister. She immediately aligned herself with the legislation in our region from Washington movement that started by declaring drug offences a capital offence subject to summary execution without trial.

So the enemy of the people is not some autocrat manipulating media and popular opinion but simple malaise or exhaustion especially among the younger demographic. Strange, as they like many contemporaries across the world, should recognise their dependence on political participation even to the point of armed conflict.

Like Jamaica, it is back to swiping right on the small screen in the Caribbean. Omission to act is as bad as the act itself. The warm but introverted cocoon of ignorance.

PETER POLACK

Former criminal lawyer

Cayman Islands