Over and over

Gordon Robinson, Contributor

Despite several columns describing inadequacies of the Westminster system of government and how to interpret Westminster-style election results, the People's National Party (PNP) sycophants are still having trouble with the results of the last general election.

"Over and over I keep going over the world we knew

Once when you walked beside me.

That inconceivable, that unbelievable world we knew

When we two were in love."

Let's go through it one last time. In Westminster, which we copied, without thought, from the British, despite cultural and historical differences, we're not allowed to vote for Jamaica's executive leader (prime minister) separately from our legislative representatives. We're permitted to mark one ballot, ostensibly for member of parliament (MP), but then must sit impotently by while Cabinet ministers are foisted upon us by one individual (PM) predominantly from the ranks of our MPs who immediately take on national responsibilities often conflicting with their representative obligations.

When it suited him, the National Democratic Movement's (NDM) first president understood and articulated this obvious incongruity. Prior to that, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) spokesman on finance had found nothing wrong with the system. Now, the sometime JLP leader, sometime prime minister, has done zip-a-dee-dooda to even advocate for systemic change. So it seems we're stuck with Westminster in perpetuity.

In that context, when we vote against a party in power, in favour of the former opposition, it means (unless we're fools) we weren't impressed with its performance as Government. In particular, its Cabinet ministers, more or less, left us cold.

Apparently, we'll tolerate some as MPs but, clearly, we don't want them in Government. It would only be common courtesy, therefore, if those voted out accepted the will of the people and, at least, the former prime minister resigned as opposition party leader to give us a real choice at the next election.

Also, key Cabinet members, such as Omar Davies, for example, who was a member of the PNP's election debate team, must accept that his return as MP to a garrison constituency is no endorsement of his role as finance minister and it's far more likely that the rejection of the government of which he was an integral member, in fact, includes a rejection of him as Cabinet member.

Accordingly, he oughtn't to be returned to the Opposition shadow Cabinet and any future political involvement should be restricted to the back benches.

This is how I developed my reading of the message sent to Omar Davies at the last election that he should pack his bags and go. An online commentator who read my Sunday, June 26 column ('Political madness') wrote: "Maybe I missed something, but when and where was this message sent to Omar Davis (sic)?" It was sent during September 2007, my blinkered friend, in the election that summarily dismissed the entire Cabinet, including him.

James Gordon Brown resigned as Labour Party leader last year after being voted out as British prime minister but returned as MP for his Scottish constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Patrick Manning resigned as People's National Movement leader immediately after being voted out of office as Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister but returned as MP for San Fernando East. Innumerable examples like these are available worldwide, including elsewhere in the Caribbean.

But, in Jamaica, a different trend has developed since Michael Manley was unceremoniously fired as prime minister in 1980 yet hung around as PNP leader until the electorate was forced to vote for him in 1989 in order to axe Eddie Seaga.

"O-o-over an' over,

I tried to prove my love to you.

Over an' over,

what more can I do?

Over an' over,

my friend says I'm a fool.

But, o-o-over an' over,

I'll be a fool for you."

Why be a fool?

"'Cause you've got (personality).

Walk (with personality).

Talk (with personality).

Smile (with personality).

Charm (with personality).

Love (with personality).

Plus you got a great big heart."

Then, in standard Jamaican political tit-for-tat, Seaga stubbornly clung to the position of JLP leader for 16 years, waiting to be voted back in, but Jamaicans refused to repeat the error, instead sticking with an increasingly corrupt PNP for 18 years.

For how long must we put up with rejected politicians clinging to the hope of personal political recovery at our expense? Why is politics so contrary that a politician reported to be speaking truth must deny the report rather than own up to speaking truth? Peter's WikiLeaked description of Portia might be grist for a local crossword clue ["di woman stares widely at catastrophe" (8)] and his alleged loose-lipped analysis of the PNP's stewardship might, if proven, exhibit the discretion of a drunken sailor, but it's also exactly the sort of truth that somebody needs to find the political backbone to affirm.

Courage needed

All we ask of our leaders is that they summon up the testicular fortitude to speak their truth clearly, consistently and loudly, regardless of personal political price. Somebody within the PNP needs to locate his or her courage from wherever it's been languishing, even if travel to the Netherlands is required, and insist that the PNP accept the 2007 election results and stop insulting us by recycling rejects like Portia and Omar. It's no point lashing out at the PNP from within only when your back's against the wall and you've been told to resign from your seat.

No less solid a PNP leader than Peter Phillips needs to grow a pair of Niagaras and tell Portia and Omar, publicly and privately, exactly what he is alleged to have said in that WikiLeaks cable. We need the Peter who signed the secret MOUs and kept them both secret and effective by reducing the avenues for leaks to the underworld, not the Peter who denied speaking the truth three times before Portia could crow. His action regarding the MOUs was as frank a statement one could make about the way politics and crime are inextricably linked in Jamaica except, of course, that, by keeping the MOUs secret, he was also able to avoid making that statement directly to any Cabinet member.

Well, now, Peter, it's time to put your mouth where your MOUs are, for Jamaica's sake. Don't even entertain the thought of any more mealy-mouthed, absurd protestations of support for the Minimum Leader.

Politics, Peter and Jamaica have all found themselves at the same crossroads. The consequences for Jamaica from what happens next are too dire for any to accept Yogi Berra's advice "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." It's time to choose between personal political ambition and Jamaica's future.

One thing I promise Peter Phillips and the PNP. It's not all the time that 'coward man keep sound bone'. In this case, false 'unity' won't be winning any elections. Don't watch the polls. They are an expression of Jamaica's current intense disappointment with Driva, and not by any means an endorsement of the PNP or Portia. When crunch time comes and Jamaica is asked to cast its collective vote, we won't make the 1989 mistake again. Either the PNP wheels and comes again or it will be spending some more time on the Opposition benches. We're not stupid. We won't fall for that trick over and over again.

Why Phillips won't go

Readers who keep asking what's preventing Peter Phillips from making my 'pack-your-bags-and-go' list should remember:

Westminister elections aren't specific enough to permit interpreting a Government's loss to mean every Cabinet minister must go;

Peter Phillips performed with credit in three separate ministries (Health; Transport; and National Security); always polled highly as a performer and as having the electorate's confidence; and was never even peripherally involved in any allegation of corruption or any of the 'scandals' such as Trafigura, NetServ and the like. He still retains ticks in all the right boxes as a minister while his recently publicised US Embassy faux pas, albeit embarrassing for Portia and for Jamaica, took place when he was in Opposition after the election was already lost, hence the electoral jury has not yet had an opportunity to comment;

As a losing sitting PM, Portia has no democratic choice but to go. Although Omar's integrity has never (and, in my opinion, can never) be questioned, he is blamed for the financial collapse and the destruction of the country's spirit of entrepreneurism. Also, he was held up as a senior member of the election team and actually represented the past government in the public debates, thus making his position vulnerable in the event of electoral loss;

My own 'pack-your-bags-and-go' list also includes Bobby 'Chicken Feed' Pickersgill, Phillip 'NetServ' Paulwell and Roger 'Hello! Hello!' Clarke, but these aren't as obvious as the top two, and arguments can be advanced in favour of retaining any or all.

Lyrics quoted above come from Berthold 'Bert' Kaempfert, Carl Sigman, Herbert Rehbein (The World We Knew, as recorded by the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra) and Najee/Braithwaite (Personality as recorded by Lloyd Price). The crossword clue is an anagram. Work it out. It's comic.

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.