‘WRONG MESSAGE’
Political analysts say Holness’ pleas from political platform suggest JLP in ‘panic mode’
Published:Tuesday | November 14, 2023 | 12:12 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
To access this article in full please login or register today
THE JAMAICA Labour Party’s (JLP) message from the political platform urging Jamaicans not to dispose of the Holness administration is an indication that the governing party is in “panic mode”, political analysts have concluded. The assessment...
THE JAMAICA Labour Party’s (JLP) message from the political platform urging Jamaicans not to dispose of the Holness administration is an indication that the governing party is in “panic mode”, political analysts have concluded.
The assessment follows Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ latest message to the electorate on Sunday at a JLP meeting in St Ann North Eastern, where he assured Labourites and the wider electorate that they will soon reap the benefits of the work his administration has put in over the last term and a half.
Holness said that his Government was doing the things necessary to ensure Jamaicans’ peace and prosperity.
“You are the people who have put us here. You have made us stronger and I’m saying to you tonight continue to hold us to account. Continue to tell us what you want to see happen. I am saying to you tonight don’t give up hope,” Holness said in his address to the party’s St Ann supporters.
He continued: “Always keep an optimistic outlook on life because we have been in a long struggle but we are now at the point where we will see the benefits. God never kept His people in the wilderness forever. At some point he sent leadership and he directed them out of the wilderness. Labourites, Jamaicans, we are on our way out of the wilderness that the PNP (People’s National Party) led us in and kept us there for over 18.5 years. We are marching out of the wilderness.”
Holness said that the JLP-led Government has demonstrated that it can create jobs, reduce national debt, stabilise the dollar, developed infrastructure, delivered increased housing solutions and is going to ensure that there is peace.
Dead heat
But the message is “reactionary and general” Dr Christopher Charles, professor of political and social psychology at The University of the West Indies, Mona, told The Gleaner yesterday.
He said that the JLP is in “panic mode”, a trigger from its decreasing popularity in the last three public opinion polls that indicate that it is in a statistical dead heat with the PNP.
Charles said statements about Holness being the best prime minister in Jamaica’s history and that his Government had built the most roads were made without the corroborating evidence.
He said despite what politicians communicate, polls shape their behaviour and noted that the JLP’s message is as a result of poll results.
Just over three weeks ago, Holness told Jamaicans that it would be unwise to return the PNP to government.
“While it is a difficult time, and we understand, and we are doing what is necessary to get us through this difficult time, it is not a wise move to even consider allowing the PNP to even put a hand on the management of the economy,” he said then.
Charles said that the Government has asked the Jamaicans to hold tight, and that means that Jamaica does not yet have a thriving economy and the promised prosperity benefits are yet to materialise after eight years of JLP governance.
The political scientist said that the message from the platform has been crafted to energise the JLP’s base and is not a bad political strategy amid a steady decline in voter turnout since the 1980 general election.
He said major political parties have to rely more on their core supporters which the JLP is doing, in the same way the PNP claimed it was leading in the party standing when the poll results indicated that the parties were tied.
Political commentator Lloyd B. Smith summed up the JLP’s message so far as “desperate”.
He said that the Government has been boastful about the performance of the economy, infrastructure development, increased housing and a plethora of prosperity items but its message from the platform has not been convincing.
“It seems strange that against that backdrop the prime minister and his colleagues should now be literally begging the electorate to give them another chance,” said Smith, a former PNP member of parliament.
He said that the Government should be confidently articulating its success stories as the basis for which it should be re-elected.
“The JLP should concentrate more on the positive side of its governance rather than seeking to paint a picture of doom and gloom should a PNP government return to office. Afterall, it has been in Government for eight years now. That should have been enough time for it to solidify itself in terms of the Jamaican electorate.
“It’s the wrong message. Negative messages don’t do well in election campaigns,” said Smith.