Mark Wignall | Which party is outplaying the other

It seems as if the gamble was worth it. It was in the month of May in 2023. The Holness-led Government had announced massive salary increases for those in the top tier of the political class. “Is wickedness, Mark,” said Donna, a shop operator and a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) diehard. “This is the last, last time mi eva gwine vote.”

In the last few months, not only has she not commented on the salary matter, but she has shown affirmation by wearing a green, plastic wristband on one hand. Unless I bring it up in an argument, no one is seeing it as an issue to upset their lives.

Think of it. Many political administrations have played the game of political hypocrisy over the salary issue. They have long known that the salaries of politicians were woefully inadequate while also knowing that broad assumptions had been baked into the political culture that those who offer themselves for public service were wealthy individuals. Or were connected to a class that could economically sustain them.

So Holness pounced and knew that the time would never get better. First, elections were equidistant in the rear-view mirror and through the windshield. Second, the economic metrics were far better than in the pre-JLP administration days, that is, the time of the PNP administration. As the days wore on, Dr Nigel Clarke would have to remain fully plugged into matters of the public service.

The prime minister knew that when the broad infrastructural pluses are connected, many of the potential voters in this country would be able to see an economy more friendly to employment and a path to liveable wages. We are not exactly there yet, but the JLP has not given us its final pitch towards the local government polls. And the People’s National Party (PNP) has to give its best pretence of readiness.

THOSE INTERNAL POLLS

If a polling Company A is approached by political party ONE to conduct an islandwide poll, that company only has professional loyalties to party ONE.

If the same polling company is approached by political party TWO to conduct an islandwide poll, it would be the professional responsibility of Company A to tell party TWO that the company was in the field, say, last month, for a nameless client.

I say all of that because both political parties have made the claim that internal polls (conducted by reputable pollsters) have shown them ahead of the other party.

Now, if the pollster represents an accurate picture of future voting behaviour, it must mean that one party is lying. If the JLP’s poll shows the JLP ahead, why not release it to a media house and crow about it all over?

If the PNP’s poll is showing the PNP significantly ahead of the JLP, release it to the media, crow about it, and proclaim a victory as more than a wish and a hope.

I suspect that a poll done in January may find both political parties in a statistical dead heat, and such a neutered metric will certainly not make for an excited electorate, especially those in the 25 to 45 age group.

EXTORTION AND TALK FROM THE PM

Hardly any sensible person would want to fault the prime minister for talking tough about those armed thugs living close to the precincts of the Spanish Town Hospital and even now may be sharpening their extortion approaches when the expansion spend and construction begin.

“It certainly needs the voice of someone as powerful as PM Holness,” said a woman to me last Thursday. “He can make some of those gangsters think twice.”

It is my belief that more than the last vestiges of the Klansman gang are operating. If there is a scare factor among the new recruits and the remnants who coalesced from Klans, it is that the police have gathered significant intelligence on them to the extent that any active, new alliance brought about would be sniffed, smoked out, and blown up.

The PM has a responsibility to himself to ensure that the police in St Catherine maintain in close touch with his ministry as the expansion takes off in full.

WHO KILLED MELISSA SILVERA?

Many of us were asked to believe what appeared impossible. The best murder-intrigue novelist could hardly do better.

The wife of the politician found dead in her bed. In the morning. Cause of death (proximate judgment): natural causes. She was 42 years old.

An autopsy about a week after her death revealed bullet fragments in her body. First obvious question. Who was the first responder? Second, where were the signs of egress of blood from her body?

So far, the gun of her husband, the ex MP, has been handed over to the police. Which means that Mr Silvera would certainly have a vested interest in the forensic specialists clearing any connection between his gun and those bullet fragments.

This is one of those puzzling cases that presents scary questions to ask. Like, why was the room rearranged and painted? Surely one could answer that question to meet normal expectations. A loved one wanted to do for her what she had requested years ago as a hypothetical.

Another question. Did the police give any specific instructions that the scene in the bedroom was not to be disturbed? Or, the room had been rearranged before it was determined it was a murder scene?

REALLY PM?

My friend emailed me Thursday. “Being PM of Jamaica is not an easy job. We Jamaicans are a difficult people. We are strong, determined, sadly undisciplined, violent, and ungovernable. So, any PM, including the current PM, must be given leeway.

“But there are certain things that the current PM has control over, and I have questions about him getting things done. First, he has not clarified/filed his IC filings.

“He has sole control over that. If he cannot get that done timely, that raises the question, can he get things done for the country.”

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