Dear Editor,
One cannot help but observe, with interest, the developments of late in the political arena as Jamaica eagerly awaits the announcement of what is perhaps the most highly anticipated and important general election yet.
With the wait on in earnest, there seems to be no end in sight to the political circus and firestorm engulfing the governing People’s National Party (PNP). It is not surprising to find that hostile factions within the ranks of the ruling party are at war with each other because proximity to a member of parliament usually comes with access to the political trough and the accompanying largesse. As a result, the stakes are high, and what onlookers like myself are left with is a carnival of infighting, hostility and discord amongst Comrades, ostensibly clamouring for scarce benefits and political spoils.
The PNP has now clearly joined Jamaica in being leaderless; for the nation at large is, and has been, without a leader in the real sense. It is poetic justice that supporters of the PNP are now getting a taste of what the rest of us have been suffering under the past four years at the hands of someone who claims to be working, working, working. Portia Simpson Miller has been an abject failure as prime minister and that now seems to be the case where her incumbency as PNP president is concerned. Hers is a story of inaccessibility, absenteeism and reluctance to address issues of national importance.
What is sad, I think, is that the current spat between factions in the PNP, particularly those in places like St Elizabeth North Eastern, Trelawny Northern, Portland Eastern, and Hanover Western, serve as a grim reminder of what is fundamentally wrong with our politics and our political culture. The politics of poverty, personality and dependency tends to trump all else. For many, it’s all about what’s in it for them. They couldn’t care less about what is in Jamaica’s interest. Regrettably, an undeniable ramification of the PNP’s carnival of infighting is greater levels of voter apathy, disinterest in the politics generally, and reluctance to participate in the political process specifically by voting.
All is not lost, however. One can only encourage well-thinking Jamaicans to take heart and not be discouraged by the PNP’s colossal failure as Government and its internal ramblings and take the future of this blessed island home of ours into their hands by participating in the democratic process and making 2016 the year of prosperity.
Marlon Morgan
Deputy Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture
Aide to Opposition Leader
marlonandremorgan@gmail.com
One cannot help but observe, with interest, the developments of late in the political arena as Jamaica eagerly awaits the announcement of what is perhaps the most highly anticipated and important general election yet.
With the wait on in earnest, there seems to be no end in sight to the political circus and firestorm engulfing the governing People’s National Party (PNP). It is not surprising to find that hostile factions within the ranks of the ruling party are at war with each other because proximity to a member of parliament usually comes with access to the political trough and the accompanying largesse. As a result, the stakes are high, and what onlookers like myself are left with is a carnival of infighting, hostility and discord amongst Comrades, ostensibly clamouring for scarce benefits and political spoils.
The PNP has now clearly joined Jamaica in being leaderless; for the nation at large is, and has been, without a leader in the real sense. It is poetic justice that supporters of the PNP are now getting a taste of what the rest of us have been suffering under the past four years at the hands of someone who claims to be working, working, working. Portia Simpson Miller has been an abject failure as prime minister and that now seems to be the case where her incumbency as PNP president is concerned. Hers is a story of inaccessibility, absenteeism and reluctance to address issues of national importance.
What is sad, I think, is that the current spat between factions in the PNP, particularly those in places like St Elizabeth North Eastern, Trelawny Northern, Portland Eastern, and Hanover Western, serve as a grim reminder of what is fundamentally wrong with our politics and our political culture. The politics of poverty, personality and dependency tends to trump all else. For many, it’s all about what’s in it for them. They couldn’t care less about what is in Jamaica’s interest. Regrettably, an undeniable ramification of the PNP’s carnival of infighting is greater levels of voter apathy, disinterest in the politics generally, and reluctance to participate in the political process specifically by voting.
All is not lost, however. One can only encourage well-thinking Jamaicans to take heart and not be discouraged by the PNP’s colossal failure as Government and its internal ramblings and take the future of this blessed island home of ours into their hands by participating in the democratic process and making 2016 the year of prosperity.
Marlon Morgan
Deputy Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture
Aide to Opposition Leader
marlonandremorgan@gmail.com