Political Parties as 'Gangs'

Martin Henry, Contributor

The Gleaner is flexing its muscles against the 'gangs' otherwise known as political parties. In a series of editorials last week, prefaced on the front page, the paper has roundly trounced the two major political parties, alternating in Government since 1944, for having failed Jamaica.

The Page A1 preface to the editorial last Sunday said, "Today's editorial turns the spotlight on two parties which have exploited Jamaica to their own benefit. The doldrums in which the nation finds itself point to a deficit of leadership as those who have ascended to power have been more interested in prolonging this abominable legacy. 'Jamaica faces a profound crisis whose repair demands a revolution of thought, and a willingness of those in leadership and with power to admit to the situation and to take a stand in favour of change. We believe that this should start with the political parties and their leaders."

But then the front page preface to the Tuesday editorial lamented that "Jamaica's leadership deficit appears to be widening as the heads of the two major political parties show little interest in radical transformation of the political system, aside from speechifying to score points or to make headlines. But the country demands more. And Bruce Golding and Portia Simpson Miller, both (old) career politicians, seem incapable of delivering."

The editorials are well timed. They have come right behind the crash-landing of the Manatt-Coke commission of enquiry, an event precipitated by the dirty politics of the country and in which the scoring of points by the parties figured far more prominently than any search for truth. And last Sunday, we witnessed a coming out of hibernation of the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC), which had emerged following Prime Minister Golding's apology speech last May and the subsequent incursion by the security forces into Tivoli Gardens. The coalition was supporting a full-page advertisement by the National Integrity Action Forum (NIAF), which was reporting on the commitments, made to the nation by the prime minister in that May 17, 2010 speech, to clean up the system.

Listing the 14 commitments and actions to date, the ad concluded, "much progress made", then called out, "Unite for needed action on campaign financing, criminal sanctions for breaches of the contract-award process and the dismantling of garrisons."

The human cost of the Tivoli Gardens incursion is still fresh in our minds, with at least 73 civilians killed, many of them non-combatants, with alleged executions by both the security forces and the Coke fighters. The trauma stories, which will last a lifetime, are coming through. The commission of enquiry itself is set to cost the country at least $78 million. But these are comparatively small costs compared to the long-term destructiveness of our dirty politics. Most of the 40,000 or so people murdered since 1970 owe their deaths, directly or indirectly, to the criminality attached to, and fomented by, the political parties. And foregone and reverse development runs into multiple billions of dollars.

I have been drumming the same point about the gangster character of the political parties and welcome The Gleaner explicitly adding its weight through its editorials. The fundamental political and development problem which this country faces is the criminalised character of the two political parties which alternate in Government. But the comparison of the parties to criminal gangs is neither original to me nor The Gleaner. In the 2003 book Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy, edited by Anthony Harriott, now professor of criminology at the University of the West Indies, the editor's overview, after discussing "elite-mass criminality in electoral fraud", has this passage which I have often quoted: "This," the editor wrote, "raises the issue of the political parties being criminal organisations. They are, of course, not criminal organisations in the same sense as organised-crime networks, that is, their raison d'être is not criminal engagement. On the contrary, their primary objective is to form the government of the country, and both major political parties have a record of developmental achievements. Nevertheless, the resort to criminal means of gaining office, and the alliances with criminals that are used for this purpose, give criminal networks considerable leverage on the parties, and lead to the use of criminal means to systematically plunder the resources of the state once office is acquired. These activities of the political elite have profound implications for ordinary criminality, especially the normalisation of crime, which is reflected in the view that criminality has become conformist behaviour ... ."

One iteration of my crime and politics writings appeared in this space on the Sunday (May 23, 2010) when attacks were launched by the Coke militia against Corporate Area police stations, triggering the Tivoli incursion by the security forces the following day.

dirty politics

The political parties were formed with high ideals for leading the development of the country, but, as I restated then in 'Dirty side of politics', the reality was that political victimisation and, with it, political/union violence kicked in from that very first administration under Universal Adult Suffrage.

Obika Gray, having traced out the "fateful alliance" between political parties, trade unions, and gangs, in chapter two of his book Demeaned but Empowered: The Social Power of the Urban Poor in Jamaica, said, "The foregoing account has confirmed that the use of violence as a political tactic to win elections, defend political territory against rivals, and secure representation of workers in the trade union movement actually began in the 1940s, and not in the 1960s, as some observers have been wont to believe. Thus, from the moment Jamaicans won the right to vote, and native politicians got the opportunity to become incumbents of state power, political violence became an organising feature of Jamaican politics."

Amanda Sives, in her chapter, 'The Historical Roots of Violence in Jamaica: The Hearne Report, 1949', in Understanding Crime in Jamaica, draws the same conclusion: "By 1949 (the year of the first commission of enquiry into political violence in Jamaica), both political parties were engaged in violence to achieve political goals. While the violence was fairly low-key compared to what was to follow, "organised violence and the links with criminal elements were features of the political system during this period. These experiences of political participation formed through violence on the streets, whether political party or trade union-inspired, helped to define the way in which relationships developed between individuals, their parties and their government."

The Daily Gleaner editorialised, on November 11, 1949: "Men who should be considered to be of high dignity too often appear in the company of persons known to be of evil reputation. The election (only the second under Universal Adult Suffrage) is being conducted in some quarters as if it cannot be won without the support of criminals."

Political criminality is as old as the political parties themselves, and has had a devastating impact upon our country. In the quest for change, we must presume that two things are not going to happen on their own: The political parties are not going to voluntarily reform themselves. Nor are viable alternative parties going to emerge (unless, if for some unforeseen reasons, one of the old guard parties implode). The results of last Monday's by-elections in South-West St Catherine (for Parliament) and the Frankfield division )for parish council) confirm the view. Despite all the controversy surrounding the Jamaica Labour Party candidate, Everald Warmington, and a vociferous media campaign against him for being rude to the media, he retook the South West St Catherine seat with 64 per cent of the vote. The New Nation Coalition candidate, Convener Betty Ann Blaine, got all of 177 votes, or two per cent of the total. Two other alternative parties candidates only got 46 and 60 votes apiece from the 9,165 ballots cast. An 'independent' former PNP parish councillor took 34 per cent of the vote. In Frankfield, the established National Democratic Movement mustered only 19 votes against the 1,723 cast for the JLP candidate and an 'independent' with PNP roots pulling in 980 votes.

A determined, dogged and disciplined civil society will have to do the sort of patient legwork that the NIAF is doing against corruption, with the support of the JCSC. Holding the prime minister and the Government to task on the 14-point commitment of last May, several elements of which will help to clean up party politics, is absolutely vital. Providing all possible support and encouragement to the police to continue to reduce crime without any regard whatsoever for politics, including the arrest of party functionaries, however highly placed, suspected of criminal involvement, is necessary.

powerful advocacy

And it is critical to provide civic alternatives to the dominance of the political parties in highly politicised communities like the garrisons along with powerful advocacy for adequate state services to be provided to these communities without any political price tags attached.

Rather than bundling up together, each entity should tag a reform issue and stick with it to conclusion.

Civil society, as The Gleaner reminded last Wednesday, played an important role both in extracting the 14-point commitment from an embattled prime minister and in the setting up of the commission of enquiry into the Coke extradition matter. As disappointing as the enquiry was, civil society should press on to use to the max the report as a lever for change.

The media have demonstrated their capability for orchestrated advocacy for what they want. Curbing Warmington is minor, even petty, compared to the challenge of pushing the gangster political parties in the direction of change, which the editorials of this newspaper have so cogently articulated.

Martin Henry is a communication specialist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and medhen@gmail.com.