JLP turbulence ahead

Daniel Thwaites, Contributor

There is tumult ahead for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), still stemming from the phenomenal rapidity with which Bruce Golding self-destructed. He left the party in a tailspin and the valiant effort to paper over the cracks by immediately swearing fealty to another leader is still a work in progress.

It was an admirable effort. It was epic. Historic! I don't think we have ever seen anything like it, except perhaps in Disney's Lion King. Karl Samuda, a.k.a. 'Rafiki', held aloft and presented Andrew Holness, a.k.a. 'Simba', while every knee buckled in obedience.

Behind the scenes, Holness was a compromise choice, the least offensive to most people. He wasn't chosen because any particular faction was in love with him so much as that he offended no faction particularly deeply. We didn't see Labourites dancing Gangnam Style down Belmont Road. Few were in love, but many were in like. At the time, I had commented on it as a marriage of convenience, and I've seen nothing since to revise that view.

This is a legitimate way for a leader to carry on forever, so that by itself doesn't discredit him at all. But because there was no runoff, the factions weren't pacified and subdued by Holness either. This isn't because Holness is necessarily doing a bad job of it. Rather, institutions have personalities and like to observe certain formalities. Plus, people want a champion, not a prince, and to be a champion you have to defeat rivals. In particular, in a large and hierarchical organisation like a political party, and in a culture such as ours, people want absolute clarity about who is the leader.

TENSION BUILDING

Look at what happened in the People's National Party (PNP) when the delegates elected Portia, but by a plurality? The unresolved conflict erupted into a new contest in record time. When factions are at variance, such collisions are inevitable. So the tension has built up in the JLP and that's why its leaking into the press.

First, there was the story about Mr Holness checking his electronic device every few seconds. I felt this criticism was particularly harsh, probably because I struggle to stop doing what Mr Holness is accused of - but goddammit, the phone keeps buzzing and emails keep pouring in.

Then there's the business of the internal review and whether or not it should be sanitised before release. Most recently, Mr Holness has unwisely lent his name to a lawsuit against the NHT, which I, like some unnamed critic at a Standing Committee meeting, believe he will come to regret.

More generally, there was something oddly frantic about Mr Holness' screeching demand, at the last conference, that "those who have an issue, leave!!!" It is the sort of approach that people associate with Eddie Seaga, who nevertheless would have delivered it with more credible and genuine authority.

CHALLENGE COMING THIS YEAR?

Now there's whispering of a build-up to a challenge in November, and despite Mr Holness' protestations that all is at peace, Las May's tragicomical cartoon of him gathering up the pieces of a shattered bell is more likely true.

That said, Mr Holness seems to have two heavyweights firmly with him. James Robertson, the longest-serving deputy leader at this point, and a powerful influence on many delegates, seems securely behind Holness. Then there's Bobby Montague, whose intra-party prowess erupted into full visibility not too long ago when he crushed some impressive rivals to take the chairmanship. Apparently, he, too, sits atop Mr Holness' shoulder like a guardian angel.

Incidentally, it's curious how the drumbeats about a certain JLP official's supposed extradition suddenly went silent when the PNP took power. As a Labour Party mover patiently explained to me, that's the surest signal it was an internal campaign to oust Mr Visa Malfunction. I live and I (try to) learn.

Holness' minders aside, there are still significant forces unaccounted for. Where is Daryl Vaz? Where is Chris Tufton? Ed Bartlett? Horace Chang? Not to mention the shadowy monied interests, the rump of the old Farmers' Party, who make it their business to administer loyalty tests to the JLP leader? Where are they?

The whispering is that a search is on for a standard-bearer. Last year, I wrote that I liked Audley's chances, his plucky garrulousness, comic timing, and penchant for the memorable phrase. But "Audley coward", or at least that's what I'm told by Labour Party aficionados who know the lay of the land. Apparently, 'Man-a-Yaad' has been counting up his delegates and considering a run, but "him fraid".

RIGHT TIME TO ACT

Naturally, Mr Shaw will deny, but probably not forcefully or categorically. Right now, he's caught in a no-man's-land, looking and scouting, but wary of confrontation. Unfortunately, Audley has shown no appetite for my advice, which is simply, à la Cutty Ranks in Grizzle: "Goh far it!" Now is the time to act, so as to permit a period of healing before elections.

Mr Holness, for his part, is aware that Audley is counting. In fact, this is how I understand Mr Holness' otherwise dangerous, although perhaps also slightly comical, announcement last November that he's in campaign mode, presumably to oust a Government at that time less than a year old. It's a plea designed to discourage internal challenges.

Regrettably, this is like an ancient Greek drama, where the most exciting action happens offstage and hidden from the audience's view, which is distressing, I'm sure, for Labourites, and certainly for Labour-watchers like myself. Especially when the stage seems as if it's being prepared for the return of the Golden One.

Bruce is not 'fraid'. Quite the contrary! His history is of a man with copious energy and hair-raising political daring. He's programmed and genetically engineered for leadership and seems to be growing restless in his early retirement. He will know that more than anything, delegates want a winner and like to win. Well! It can scarcely have escaped anyone's notice that The Bruce is, after all, the only driver to have steered the JLP to victory in a contested general election over this last nearly three and one-half decades.

Daniel Thwaites is a partner of the Thwaites Law Firm in Jamaica, and Thwaites, Lundgren & D'Arcy in New York. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.