Mark Wignall | What sound reason to vote in next elections?

I voted for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 2016 and in 2020. At this very moment as I write this column (Thursday, April 6), there is no strong feeling pushing me to vote next time. Not JLP and not People’s National Party (PNP), as I last did in 2002. Listening to the prime minister speak, it is obvious that he senses that mood. And he probably knows that people like me are in no rush to hug up the PNP at the next elections.

Speaking at the opening of a children and adolescent hospital in the western end of the island and blending that development into national developments and future plans, he said, “We are doing it now, so we ask for people’s understanding, people’s continued interest and, of course, constructive criticism. But we ask that people as well take into consideration the full picture of what is happening.”

Recent polls indicate that, at the next election, a percentage slightly higher than those who showed up in 2020 will be voting. Of all the findings in the poll, that statistic seems to be the one that may prove to be quite fleeting. But, if Andrew Holness gives importance to it, he may read it as more people in the electorate angry at his leadership and, by extension, the JLP.

In other words, just as how his name added up and became more than the sum of its individual parts in 2020, so it could turn around and extract from various JLP MPs the positives that worked wonders for them in September 2020.

So, the very first question that the PM as party leader and the JLP must ask is, what is it that brought about the significant electoral mood change from the JLP triumph in September 2020 to early 2023. In an article before this, I have stated what is obvious to all doing political research.The power of social media is not yet fully mapped out in terms of how it drives many political narratives nationally.

It must also be stated that the political party with a significant cadre of young, bright social influencers and those skilled to manipulate social media will have the better chance at staying out in front.

Development of the type that the PM wants us to see and present him with voting kudos may not be seen as in former years; that is, the conceptualiser of popular projects, say, large housing developments seen as affordable by those in the so-called lower middle class. Let us be honest with ourselves. The JLP government has done reasonably well on the economic front.

With that said, the other question that the PM must ask himself is to what extent potential voters may be having a paradigm shift on national development, in that they believe that the development would have taken place whether the JLP or PNP is in power. Plus, if, as some of us will say, the JLP did a good job and added more to national infrastructure (health, education, efficiency, security etc.) and private sector expansion, that party loses the next elections, there is absolutely no way that the JLP can take up those plusses and carry them home.

I may yet vote but, at this time, I am waiting on the JLP to convince me that it is worth another vote investment.

FACTORING IN THE KILLINGS

The commissioner of police has trotted out some numbers indicating that serious crimes involving shootings have been trending down. But it is not only that our basket of criminality that was close to full has thrown off some of its weight. The fact is, for our size, the basket was bigger than usual. So, many of us are not impressed by 20 per cent less in any of the troubling metrics. One big shooting in an urban setting, or the murder of a young woman or child in a rural area, is enough to present us with many stressful nights.

Commissioner, that is what the people see. All major crimes need to trend to a 50 per cent decline and hold that [and below] in place before the nation will sleep soundly again. I am not naive to believe that controlling the crime monster is solely the responsibility of the commissioner of police.

We know that, even if the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is guaranteed sufficient funding from central government and the efficiency and readiness of the JCF grows by 50 per cent, the people of this country will have to partner with the security forces to bring down the homicide rate by 50 per cent. At the same time, this country does not have the resources to ensure that hundreds of young men leaving school each year can opt for the correct path to ensure that the dream of an easy life does not lead to early dates with guns, bullets and ripped-up bodies.

I SYMPATHISE WITH SECURITY GUARDS

I once had a ‘bredren’ who worked as a security guard. Sometime in the late 1990s, he was doing the graveyard shift at an empty high-rise building. Construction had long ceased and there was hardly anything on the lower floors to steal.

He was not armed. One night they came; about five of them. He was about to wet his pants when one of the men said, “Security, yu safe.” He brandished a gun. “Just gwaan like yu nuh si wi an everyting nice.”

His hand holding a flashlight was shaking. The men went inside and removed some items of panelling. They placed them on a van and, as they drove off, the said, “Next week.”

The following week, he had convinced his boss to get him an uptown posting. He did an overnighter at an uptown plaza. During the night, they told him that his relief would not be coming. Later, after being on the job for 15 hours straight, the company van arrived. There was another security detail with dogs on another part of the plaza. Food was carried for the dogs. He was not even provided with a cold patty.

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