Dear Editor,
In 2008 the people of the United States elected Barack Obama to be president. It was not because he is black and handsome. They clearly believed that he could get the job done, end an out-of-control inflation, end two wars, turn around the over 200,000 jobs they were losing a month, and stem the worst recession since the 1930s.
He didn't fulfil all his promises but he did all that was humanly possible, given the fact that he started in a deep hole and began the task of climbing out. It couldn't be done in four years so they re-elected him. In Jamaica, the JLP was elected in 2007. They too found themselves in a deep hole and shortly after confronted a recession that buckled established economies like Greece, Spain and Ireland. They too did not complete all the promises they made, but given the size and depth of the hole they were left by the PNP after 18 1/2 years in power, how could Jamaicans expect them to climb out in four short years? It can be reasonably argued that they got sidetracked by the Christopher "Dudus" Coke extradition affair, which slowed their progress. But was this sufficient to give them the boot in four years?
Today we have returned to the PNP without any indication that the party has learnt from its past experiences or reinvented itself. Their early promise of a quick IMF agreement has proved incorrect, and this has caused us to be rapidly reducing our Net International Reserves, and the private sector seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach. We are again faced with many of the same faces that left us in a hole. There is no need for a Cabinet reshuffle; if you have a pack of jokers, no matter how many times you shuffle them the card at the top will always be a joker.
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
No need for a Cabinet reshuffle
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In 2008 the people of the United States elected Barack Obama to be president. It was not because he is black and handsome. They clearly believed that he could get the job done, end an out-of-control inflation, end two wars, turn around the over 200,000 jobs they were losing a month, and stem the worst recession since the 1930s.
He didn't fulfil all his promises but he did all that was humanly possible, given the fact that he started in a deep hole and began the task of climbing out. It couldn't be done in four years so they re-elected him. In Jamaica, the JLP was elected in 2007. They too found themselves in a deep hole and shortly after confronted a recession that buckled established economies like Greece, Spain and Ireland. They too did not complete all the promises they made, but given the size and depth of the hole they were left by the PNP after 18 1/2 years in power, how could Jamaicans expect them to climb out in four short years? It can be reasonably argued that they got sidetracked by the Christopher "Dudus" Coke extradition affair, which slowed their progress. But was this sufficient to give them the boot in four years?
Today we have returned to the PNP without any indication that the party has learnt from its past experiences or reinvented itself. Their early promise of a quick IMF agreement has proved incorrect, and this has caused us to be rapidly reducing our Net International Reserves, and the private sector seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach. We are again faced with many of the same faces that left us in a hole. There is no need for a Cabinet reshuffle; if you have a pack of jokers, no matter how many times you shuffle them the card at the top will always be a joker.
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
No need for a Cabinet reshuffle
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