Dear Editor,
The People’s National Party (PNP) have been in office for 22 of the past 27 years, only interrupted in 2007, and have shown a strong and united front in both the constant victories and the rare defeats.
But something different is happening; something you can feel. Party leader Portia Simpson Miller, for all practical purposes, is over politically and everyone knows this now, especially after the defeat and jockeying for positions have already begun in the background.
The old guard refuses to budge, and if they do it is going to be at a time of their choosing, so they are slowly coalescing around a single candidate. The old guard, I believe, knows what a messy succession can do to a party’s electability prospects. They will remember the Jamaica Labour Party in the 90s and want a quick succession.
My personal view is that Peter Phillips, the media’s darling, won’t get it; simply because the delegates won’t forgive him for this electoral debacle.
People on the ground say that “Mr Youthful Exuberance” is being touted as a candidate by the old guard, and that must be shocking for the PNP and its youth arm. This shows the state the party is in.
That then leaves the young Turks in a tricky position. They, right now, are not a united force, as they have quite a few in their ranks who want the ultimate mantle. They need to realise that the division plays into the hands of the old guard. With so many young prominent PNP members having fallen afoul of party elders and delegates, it’s hard to see certain people making a push for it, worse if they don’t have a seat they can comfortably call their own.
Step forward, Julian Robinson, here is a man with youth, fresh ideas, untainted by the elders, gets along well with delegates, and is firmly in control of his seat. He is a person around whom the young Turks can make a push for power. While he strikes one as the lecturer that no one wants to have, he is extremely bright and may have what it takes to defeat the young Andrew.
The young Turks, if they are wise, will come together around Julian and form a winning team. Imagine for a minute, a PNP ticket consisting of Julian, Raymond Pryce, Damion Crawford, Lisa Hanna, and Mark Golding? That surely is a team that cannot only muster enough internal support to wrest power from the old guard, but also a team that is young, willing to listen and learn all while doing things in a new fashion.
Whoever gets the nod, the youngsters need to act fast. With the election still not over (recounts are ongoing), the political funeral has not really begun, the young Turks should take this time of confusion and map out a plan because certain dinosaurs will only leave if dragged kicking and screaming.
Alexander Scott
alexanderwj.scott@gmail.com
The People’s National Party (PNP) have been in office for 22 of the past 27 years, only interrupted in 2007, and have shown a strong and united front in both the constant victories and the rare defeats.
But something different is happening; something you can feel. Party leader Portia Simpson Miller, for all practical purposes, is over politically and everyone knows this now, especially after the defeat and jockeying for positions have already begun in the background.
The old guard refuses to budge, and if they do it is going to be at a time of their choosing, so they are slowly coalescing around a single candidate. The old guard, I believe, knows what a messy succession can do to a party’s electability prospects. They will remember the Jamaica Labour Party in the 90s and want a quick succession.
My personal view is that Peter Phillips, the media’s darling, won’t get it; simply because the delegates won’t forgive him for this electoral debacle.
People on the ground say that “Mr Youthful Exuberance” is being touted as a candidate by the old guard, and that must be shocking for the PNP and its youth arm. This shows the state the party is in.
That then leaves the young Turks in a tricky position. They, right now, are not a united force, as they have quite a few in their ranks who want the ultimate mantle. They need to realise that the division plays into the hands of the old guard. With so many young prominent PNP members having fallen afoul of party elders and delegates, it’s hard to see certain people making a push for it, worse if they don’t have a seat they can comfortably call their own.
Step forward, Julian Robinson, here is a man with youth, fresh ideas, untainted by the elders, gets along well with delegates, and is firmly in control of his seat. He is a person around whom the young Turks can make a push for power. While he strikes one as the lecturer that no one wants to have, he is extremely bright and may have what it takes to defeat the young Andrew.
The young Turks, if they are wise, will come together around Julian and form a winning team. Imagine for a minute, a PNP ticket consisting of Julian, Raymond Pryce, Damion Crawford, Lisa Hanna, and Mark Golding? That surely is a team that cannot only muster enough internal support to wrest power from the old guard, but also a team that is young, willing to listen and learn all while doing things in a new fashion.
Whoever gets the nod, the youngsters need to act fast. With the election still not over (recounts are ongoing), the political funeral has not really begun, the young Turks should take this time of confusion and map out a plan because certain dinosaurs will only leave if dragged kicking and screaming.
Alexander Scott
alexanderwj.scott@gmail.com