Dear Editor,
In a country notorious for elevating talk over action, columnist Chris Burns in The Agenda on June 7, 2015 may be making the same mistake as many others have in questioning or underestimating the political and governing skills of PM Portia Simpson Miller. Citing examples from the days of Norman Manley and Sir Alexander Bustamante completely misses the point. They operated in pre-television, pre-multimedia days.
A politician, as Michael Manley was, who is constantly in the public's face will soon wear out his/her welcome. Viewers will leave the picture on and turn off the volume. This phenomenon occurs not just in Jamaica but elsewhere. Eight to ten years is the maximum shelf life today for a politician who acts as Norman Manley and Bustamante did in their day.
The current PM's success or failure will not be determined by how many speeches or public appearances she makes. It won't be determined by showing that she has expertise in every subject under the sun, as Michael Manley, Edward Seaga and P J Patterson tried to do. It will be determined by the success or failure of the policies her Government is pursuing through the various ministries. Only then will we be able to assess whether her unusual (for Jamaica) approach of "working, working,working" rather than "talking, talking, talking" was the right one.
Errol W A Townshend
Ontario, Canada
ewat@rogers.com
In a country notorious for elevating talk over action, columnist Chris Burns in The Agenda on June 7, 2015 may be making the same mistake as many others have in questioning or underestimating the political and governing skills of PM Portia Simpson Miller. Citing examples from the days of Norman Manley and Sir Alexander Bustamante completely misses the point. They operated in pre-television, pre-multimedia days.
A politician, as Michael Manley was, who is constantly in the public's face will soon wear out his/her welcome. Viewers will leave the picture on and turn off the volume. This phenomenon occurs not just in Jamaica but elsewhere. Eight to ten years is the maximum shelf life today for a politician who acts as Norman Manley and Bustamante did in their day.
The current PM's success or failure will not be determined by how many speeches or public appearances she makes. It won't be determined by showing that she has expertise in every subject under the sun, as Michael Manley, Edward Seaga and P J Patterson tried to do. It will be determined by the success or failure of the policies her Government is pursuing through the various ministries. Only then will we be able to assess whether her unusual (for Jamaica) approach of "working, working,working" rather than "talking, talking, talking" was the right one.
Errol W A Townshend
Ontario, Canada
ewat@rogers.com