Dear Editor,
If one listens to talk shows and discussion programmes in this country one will get myriad reasons our country is in the dire situation it finds itself. The educated -- not necessarily intelligent -- the village lawyers, the man in the street, all wax eloquently; they all have the answers. Yet I have not heard anyone put forward the simple but true answer that has caused and continues to cause our situation to spiral -- the protracted election mode.
Before you quickly dismiss this and move on to something else, pause for 30 seconds and think about it.
What have the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) been consumed with since 1962? Winning the next election. And the day after each election, the party that wins begins to try and make sure it wins again, and the loser begins to work to be successful the next time. Every day of our lives, every issue, no matter how minor, is blown out of proportion in a partisan way.
In the current situation, why does the Opposition feel it necessary to exhort the police and the responsible minister of government to bring all to bear their resources in solving crime? Isn't this what they are supposed to do? Why has the Opposition found it necessary to make a JLP statement on the St Hilda's affair? To what end?
Before anyone thinks this is a pro-PNP letter, that party behaved similarly when the JLP formed the government not so long ago. Additionally, as the governing party, they hold no one accountable for any foul-ups.
Maybe part of the reason this situation continues is the old politicians whose only objective is to secure victory in the next election so they can become life members of parliament. So both parties call press conferences ad nauseam and send out hot air press releases because they have to win the next election. In the meantime, our country limps from crisis to crisis and deeper into the economic abyss.
I look on with amazement at the "noise" surrounding the British prime minister's recent visit. I agree wholeheartedly that Britain and others need to be held to account for the most atrocious crime in the history of the world, slavery, in all its forms. But what about us and our role in where Jamaica is presently?
For those who are old enough, think back to what our country was like when we (Jamaicans) took it back from England. Think law and order; think strength of economy; think agriculture; think a nascent tourism industry. All of the foregoing made a recipe for prosperity, but we traded it all for the next election.
You don't believe me? Well, let's just look at one metric. In 1969, when we changed our currency from the Sterling, one Jamaican dollar was worth approximately US$1.00. Today, ...
No matter what, let's just go out and win the next election.
Stephen Harrison
St Mary
stepharrison28@gmail.com
It's always the next election, stupid
-->
If one listens to talk shows and discussion programmes in this country one will get myriad reasons our country is in the dire situation it finds itself. The educated -- not necessarily intelligent -- the village lawyers, the man in the street, all wax eloquently; they all have the answers. Yet I have not heard anyone put forward the simple but true answer that has caused and continues to cause our situation to spiral -- the protracted election mode.
Before you quickly dismiss this and move on to something else, pause for 30 seconds and think about it.
What have the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) been consumed with since 1962? Winning the next election. And the day after each election, the party that wins begins to try and make sure it wins again, and the loser begins to work to be successful the next time. Every day of our lives, every issue, no matter how minor, is blown out of proportion in a partisan way.
In the current situation, why does the Opposition feel it necessary to exhort the police and the responsible minister of government to bring all to bear their resources in solving crime? Isn't this what they are supposed to do? Why has the Opposition found it necessary to make a JLP statement on the St Hilda's affair? To what end?
Before anyone thinks this is a pro-PNP letter, that party behaved similarly when the JLP formed the government not so long ago. Additionally, as the governing party, they hold no one accountable for any foul-ups.
Maybe part of the reason this situation continues is the old politicians whose only objective is to secure victory in the next election so they can become life members of parliament. So both parties call press conferences ad nauseam and send out hot air press releases because they have to win the next election. In the meantime, our country limps from crisis to crisis and deeper into the economic abyss.
I look on with amazement at the "noise" surrounding the British prime minister's recent visit. I agree wholeheartedly that Britain and others need to be held to account for the most atrocious crime in the history of the world, slavery, in all its forms. But what about us and our role in where Jamaica is presently?
For those who are old enough, think back to what our country was like when we (Jamaicans) took it back from England. Think law and order; think strength of economy; think agriculture; think a nascent tourism industry. All of the foregoing made a recipe for prosperity, but we traded it all for the next election.
You don't believe me? Well, let's just look at one metric. In 1969, when we changed our currency from the Sterling, one Jamaican dollar was worth approximately US$1.00. Today, ...
No matter what, let's just go out and win the next election.
Stephen Harrison
St Mary
stepharrison28@gmail.com
It's always the next election, stupid
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