Dear Editor,
The decision by the Portia Simpson Miller-led Administration to withdraw the bank withdrawal tax is a modern example of the potency of people power, which interestingly was a campaign slogan used effectively by the People's National Party (PNP) when hunting votes in the 2011 General Election campaign.
The lesson here is that people, properly informed and galvanised, can eke out favourable outcomes for themselves and, importantly, have the capacity to make governments sit up and listen. That political bluster helped buoy the sustained cries for a rollback and does not detract from the genuinely democratic character of the recent protests, even if the ignorance of some persons was exploited for political ends during the process.
This withdrawal of a tax proposition at budget time is reminiscent of the hasty withdrawal that Audley Shaw, then minister of finance, had to make a few years ago, after tabling a raft of General Consumption Tax (GCT) levies on theretofore zero-rated items, including tampons, wheelchairs, walking sticks, salt, etc. The deafening and sustained howls of protest could not be ignored by Shaw or his erstwhile Cabinet colleagues, including Andrew Holness, and the proposed new taxes were rolled back without delay. It is clear, therefore, that people power existed long before any recent political campaign.
The history of this and other countries is replete with similar, and perhaps more far-reaching episodes of the establishment bucking people power. This is a good thing for the fledgling democracies of Jamaica and other developing states. To know that a government will listen to the people engenders a sense of hope and peace of mind among the citizens of the country. This itch to make our voices heard should now be extended to a raft of other social and economic issues that need attention, and around which a non-partisan consensus needs to be fostered. The people do have power, and once stripped of political animus and stratagem, the masses may very well find that informed, decisive and prudent agitation will deliver results that are far reaching and meaningful.
Wat Ching
wat.ching@yahoo.com
Real people power at work
-->
The decision by the Portia Simpson Miller-led Administration to withdraw the bank withdrawal tax is a modern example of the potency of people power, which interestingly was a campaign slogan used effectively by the People's National Party (PNP) when hunting votes in the 2011 General Election campaign.
The lesson here is that people, properly informed and galvanised, can eke out favourable outcomes for themselves and, importantly, have the capacity to make governments sit up and listen. That political bluster helped buoy the sustained cries for a rollback and does not detract from the genuinely democratic character of the recent protests, even if the ignorance of some persons was exploited for political ends during the process.
This withdrawal of a tax proposition at budget time is reminiscent of the hasty withdrawal that Audley Shaw, then minister of finance, had to make a few years ago, after tabling a raft of General Consumption Tax (GCT) levies on theretofore zero-rated items, including tampons, wheelchairs, walking sticks, salt, etc. The deafening and sustained howls of protest could not be ignored by Shaw or his erstwhile Cabinet colleagues, including Andrew Holness, and the proposed new taxes were rolled back without delay. It is clear, therefore, that people power existed long before any recent political campaign.
The history of this and other countries is replete with similar, and perhaps more far-reaching episodes of the establishment bucking people power. This is a good thing for the fledgling democracies of Jamaica and other developing states. To know that a government will listen to the people engenders a sense of hope and peace of mind among the citizens of the country. This itch to make our voices heard should now be extended to a raft of other social and economic issues that need attention, and around which a non-partisan consensus needs to be fostered. The people do have power, and once stripped of political animus and stratagem, the masses may very well find that informed, decisive and prudent agitation will deliver results that are far reaching and meaningful.
Wat Ching
wat.ching@yahoo.com
Real people power at work
-->