Letter of the Day | PNP could benefit from P.J.’s wisdom

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I have tremendous respect for P.J. Patterson as an intellectual, legal mind and statesman, not to mention he was my teacher. It was good to see him at cricket recently with the current prime minister. Both seemed to be involved in deep dialogue, and it didn’t seem to be about the happenings on the field.

The camaraderie between the former and current prime ministers was encouraging. You couldn’t tell they were of different political persuasions. As I observed them, I recalled the bitter politics of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Throughout those years, both P.J. and former Prime Minister Seaga, God rest his soul, were variously vilified and maligned with all sorts of innuendos and outright lies.

I can’t help but think that P.J. and Andrew seem to be alike in their personalities. They are emotionally well controlled, both speak slowly, choose their words carefully, and because of an intellectual bent, they both tend to lecture. Also, they don’t respond to detractors, critics or criticisms. They seem to have this amazing ability to withstand political onslaught, shut out the noise, ignore the naysayers, and just move on. This can be both a good and bad leadership trait, but it is a superior trait to being easily distracted, irascible, and almost pernickety. Eddie and Portia were always up to a good argument and took on their detractors. Maybe that’s why they became such good friends publicly. Bruce got caught up in the moment of a crisis and just couldn’t move on to the next objective.

Holness has moved off the constitutional reform issue, reviewing his party for election readiness, and addressing the cost of living. On the other hand, the leader of the Opposition does not appear to be able to rise above crises. Worse, he doesn’t seem to be able to hold a consistent position. He should have quickly resolved the dual citizenship matter. It’s too late now anyway; even if he does renounce, it’s only because he was forced, not because he genuinely saw the moral offence of his position. A point which he himself made by saying he sees nothing wrong with his dual citizenship.

Now he has raised more questions than he has answers.

It’s a pity though, because the People’s National Party (PNP) could benefit so much from the knowledge and advice of their most successful leader. I am not a PNP diehard; I am just sympathetic and I admire P.J. In the same breath, I do see some similar qualities in Andrew. Whoever takes the wisdoms of the years, I will support.

BEVERLEY BUCHANAN