Editor’s Forum
Editors' Forum | ... PNP failing to take advantage of JLP fumbles
Published:Monday | July 1, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Arguing that there is a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) scandal “every rock you look under”, People’s National Party (PNP) leadership aspirant Peter Bunting is decrying the Opposition’s failure to capitalise on revelations of government mismanagement.
It is something he is hoping to fix under his leadership.
Since being elected to government in 2016, the Andrew Holness-led administration has been linked to several allegations of corruption, including the de-bushing, used-car, Petrojam, and National Energy Solutions Limited scandals.
The Government has also come under pressure from allegations of corruption at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, which led to the dismissal of portfolio minister Ruel Reid, and reports that Holness had yet to complete the filings of his 2017 statutory declarations to the satisfaction of the Integrity Commission.
“It’s not for want of the opposition members in Parliament taking on the issue.In fact, I have commented a couple times in the PAC (Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee) that I know the public must have Petrojam fatigue, but there is just so many scandals. Every rock you look under, there’s another one,” Bunting said as he addressed a Gleaner Editors’ Forum with members of his campaign team at the newspaper’s North Street, central Kingston, offices last Thursday.
“One Petrojam or one Ministry of Education, or a CMU (Caribbean Maritime University) could bring down a government, but the fact that it isn’t, I think we shouldn’t just blame the public and say, ‘How they allow this to happen?’”Bunting said.
“I think we have to look within ourselves and say, ‘Why is it that we have not been able to effectively capitalise on this? Why is it that notwithstanding the blatant corruption taking place in the Government, the public is not looking at the PNP and saying this is a better alternative?’”
The former PNP general secretary said that the four items listed in the executive summary of an appraisal report examining the reasons for the PNP’s loss in the 2016 general election could be why the PNP, at the moment, does not appear to be gaining points over the governing party.
“They say the PNP doesn’t have any coherent message, the PNP’s organisation is focused more on squabbling between councillors and MPs, there is a lack of trust in the leadership, the party is seen as arrogant and taking the electorate for granted. These were the four things that were identified in the appraisal report,” said Bunting.
On September 7, ahead of its annual conference that same month, the PNP will hold an election in which Bunting will face off againt incumbent Dr Peter Phillips for the position of president of PNP.
Nominations open July 22 and close July 26.
“If I was a member of the public, I can see probably just becoming frustrated, because the JLP administration has not by any means lived up to its promises. But on the other hand, when they look at the PNP, they perhaps don’t see any clear difference, they don’t see a lot of energy in the organisation. For whatever reason the leader is not appealing to them, so I can only conclude that those are the reasons,” said Bunting.