Holness unperturbed by campaign tint on new gov’t projects, announcements

Political commentator Dr Paul Ashley is contending that any infrastructural project undertaken by the Government at this time is being done to shore up votes for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as the local government elections loom.

In fact, according to Ashley, “The Government only does work to benefit itself politically.”

“The Opposition has no money to do anything. The Opposition can’t fix any roads, the Opposition can’t open up pipe, the Opposition can’t give nobody water. It’s the Government. Everything done now has a political implication,” he told The Gleaner.

Ashley’s pronouncement comes on the heels of Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ acknowledgement of the optics of launching projects at this time, even as he noted that an election campaign gives Jamaicans a chance to bring their concerns directly to their representatives.

He made the comment while turning on the Mocho Water Supply System in Clarendon last Friday, giving more than 700 residents access to water.

“We announced the local government elections, so I know in the back of your minds, some of you – not all of you – may be thinking, ‘Oh, this is politics or this is part of an election campaign’,” Holness said.

“And to be fair and to be truthful about this, of course it is. An election campaign is a legitimate part of our democracy and, indeed, it is in a campaign that the people of the country get an exceptional chance to raise issues of concern and bring it to the forefront.”

But according to Holness, Friday’s commissioning ceremony had been in the pipeline for a while as Clarendon North Central Member of Parliament Robert Morgan had been lobbying for “a very long time” to get water to the district.

He stressed that this was merely an act of carrying the business of governance.

“ ... I am not going to stop or delay the good work of the Government, even though it coincides with an election campaign. If there were no campaign, I would be out here doing this anyway – turning on water or making people who don’t have access to proper housing, giving them access to proper housing, or doing a groundbreaking for a park or opening a new hotel, whatever it is. The work of the Government continues,” he said.

But Ashley finds no comfort in the explanation, contending that this has been the approach of successive governments as they woo the electorate ahead of elections.

“The Jamaican electorate is wary of promises. What they want to do is see you start doing something,” he said.

“So you will find that people will symbolically turn on water pipes, the community will get some water. It won’t address all the water problems. In fact, the Government can’t address all the water problems, but it will try to give people likkle more water. They will try to patch roads; they will try to improve hospitals or health services; they might even try to want to improve the bathrooms of police stations,” he said.

CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

But describing this as “the art of politics”, political commentator Lloyd B. Smith said that it is the norm for whichever party is in power to use state resources strategically as part of its election campaign.

“We have seen in recent times where there has been a sort of feverish attempt to get a number of things done that were languishing for quite some time,” he said.

According to him, any attempt by the Government to dismiss this assumption is “disingenuous”.

“Let’s be realistic. That’s the nature of the game. Whichever party is in power this would have happened. It’s not a JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) thing; it is a Jamaican political thing. It’s part of our political culture. You’re going to have places where work starts and as soon as the election is over they stop, and they do not continue until the next election is called,” the former parliamentarian said.

Meanwhile, Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson stated that the opportunity to spend state resources close to an election is a benefit of the incumbent Government. However, he believes it will have little effect on the outcome for the JLP.

“I am not going to complain or decry that because ... people are benefiting. I do think people have come to a position in terms of this Government, where I don’t know if that is going to make a significant difference in terms of how they vote,” said the senior People’s National Party legislator.

“The Jamaican people should not be fooled by the plethora of announcements and groundbreaking, many of which will come to nothing,” he added.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com