Mark Wignall | Mark Golding trying hard to find a sweet spot

Five months before the February 29, 1989 elections the monster Hurricane Gilbert had ripped through Jamaica like an industrial chainsaw. Carl Stone’s latest poll was showing that Seaga’s Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would be forced to deal with the dismantling of Seaga’s economic wizardry as the JLP headed for a landslide loss.

Much of that political drama to come was due to one man. Michael Manley, as he was set to make a triumphant political return. On February 9,1972 he stood tall and proud at the base of an imposing, rugged mountain. On December 15, 1976 Michael had lost some of the sheen of his magic. The return in 1989 was the giant coming back to reclaim his mountain and give it his DNA.

In January 1989 I was at a huge People’s National Party (PNP) political meeting close to Half-Way Tree. I loved political meetings then. The undercurrents in numerous little conversations. The ganja-smoking. Rum-drinking. Man looking woman. The thunderclaps from the podium. The party atmosphere.

A man who was a political fluffer, whose job it was to create excitement for the headliner said from the mike at the podium, “An when di election come,” his voice rang out, “yu come out and vote fi di PNP. Carry yu bredda, yu sista, yu madda, yu faada, yu granfaada and if yu still have di link, carry yu dead grandmadda wid yu!”

The crowd went wild. I laughed loudly in between sips of Red Stripe. I knew the JLP would lose, but I would be placing a vote for Seaga like the one in October 1980 and the Locals in 1986 because I felt that his overall governmental performance deserved my (wasted) vote.

A key function of the body is to carry the brain around, said a great scientist of the past. That of course is not quite the thing at this time as the political silly season exalts itself and people express themselves into brainlessness.

GOLDING GAFFE THAT YAWNED

“We have fi mek sure seh every Comrade who voted fi the People’s National Party in 2011 and delivered the victory, if they’re still alive, dem haffi go vote fi Comrade Patrick Peterkin when the election call — and even some who not alive, yu know, if dem can deal wid it, no problem ... because as dem seh a we name power, power party,” said Golding at a PNP meeting in East Rural St Andrew recently.

And the world fell in. Really? It’s more than a possibility that I’ve suffered short circuitry or misfirings in my brain because try as I may I cannot see Golding’s words as earth-shattering and dangerous to the present political atmosphere.

“And even some who not alive, yu know, if dem can deal wid it, no problem.” Which person in the PNP can successfully hack into the personal paper vote system and present a 2011 PNP voter who died since, on the next election day? Not one single person.

In fact, in 1989 there was more a chance of that happening than in 2023 or 2024. Jamaica’s electoral reform and voting system is highly rated internationally and there is sound reason for that.

The surprising thing to me was the JLP’s response. As I listened to my friend Daryl Vaz, a minister in the JLP cabinet with a super ministry making much of it in parliament, I giggled a little. Whenever the minister and I converse by phone he calls me Markie and I call him Deevee. We’ve known each other since the 1990s.

So there I am giggling to myself and saying what sort of political mischief is Deevee up to now.

The PNP president has withdrawn the statement and issued some words in attachment. Good for him.

I’ve been thinking of two matters on this non-issue. One is that Golding is struggling to come to terms with the clash between his elite corporate side and the fact that he must meld that into a face, words, a voice and a delivery from the podium that puts him in touch with the typical grassroots PNP voter. And all of that has to be done seamlessly.

Let us face the fact, Golding, as a member of the uptown brown skin class, will never be a Michael Manley who could hold any crowd in the palm of his hand for hours and be comfortable at all times. While the crowd cries out for more.

WHY AGITATION FROM JLP?

The second matter is this. Had the latest polls delivered very good news for the JLP and the numbers indicated continuing high ratings by voters and potential voters, the party would not even blink at Mark Golding’s damp-squib gaffe.

Actually with that understanding, there is no need for any further questions. Only a troubling unease. And me surmising that there must be little bouts of panic in the JLP. With that, the JLP has taken the only safe political route out of its night shivers.

Hit Golding as he exposes his newness to the political hustings and lack of the rough and thorny paths through the political jungle.

One of the strong points of P J Patterson in his fresh prince blackness was the fact that he was neither widely disliked nor was he deeply loved. He simply failed to move the emotion meter and boy, did it work for the party. In his days the PNP reached the epitome of the party organisation driving the machinery. With Seaga in opposition, the stars were perfectly lined up for the PNP.

With Michael Manley, PNP voters made him into the maximum leader and the energy driving the party. Portia delivered genuine love for the people, but failed to score impressively on the rest of the graph.

As Mark Golding seeks to live up to the promise of the polls, and the leaders before him, the ruling JLP knows that he still has not found the footing he desires and, more so, the social and political coat that he has to comfortably fit into.

So, as him slip, di JLP gwine jook him and spill more grease at his feet.

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