I read with interest that the People’s National Party (PNP) is setting up a committee to evaluate its failure to maintain the position of forming the Government in the 2016 General Election.
But, truth be told, the results were far too close to categorise the outcome as “failure”. More importantly, for the PNP, the primary lesson learnt is that you cannot take voters for granted.
Talk does not equal performance, whether for voters or ‘non-voters’.
A 48 per cent turnout from the electorate was bad for our mature democracy. This low voter turnout sends a clear message to both the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party that the Jamaican electorate is not made up of illiterates — as they are sometimes assumed and treated. Not in this age of social media, anyhow.
I hope the PNP and JLP would have discovered the following:
• The strategic, tactical and practical role of social media, especially in the under age 38 group.
• Face-to-face (F2F) engagement with people long before an election is paramount. Learn from Alexander Bustamante, Norman and Michael Manley and Edward Seaga. There is no real substitute for this type of F2F engagement.
• The person “uptown” and the person “downtown” each has one vote. It’s who you get to come out on election day that counts.
• There are 24 strategic constituencies in Jamaica that have determined the outcome of the last three general elections (2007, 2011 and now 2016). There are permanent trends and behaviour shifts occurring. Study the statistics and behaviour of the voters in these 24 constituencies and you will know how to win an election in Jamaica.
• The people of Jamaica do not like violence and negative personal attacks anymore. Focus on policies and practices for the upliftment of Jamaica and for all Jamaicans.
I wish for a cooperative transfer of leadership within all areas of the public government sector as the JLP embarks on its turn of office.
Let both parties be reminded that the electorate is watching and do not ever get comfortable in an uncomfortable situation.
Lennox Parkins, MBA, PMP, CMA, CPA
Toronto, Canada
allan_parks@yahoo.com
But, truth be told, the results were far too close to categorise the outcome as “failure”. More importantly, for the PNP, the primary lesson learnt is that you cannot take voters for granted.
Talk does not equal performance, whether for voters or ‘non-voters’.
A 48 per cent turnout from the electorate was bad for our mature democracy. This low voter turnout sends a clear message to both the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party that the Jamaican electorate is not made up of illiterates — as they are sometimes assumed and treated. Not in this age of social media, anyhow.
I hope the PNP and JLP would have discovered the following:
• The strategic, tactical and practical role of social media, especially in the under age 38 group.
• Face-to-face (F2F) engagement with people long before an election is paramount. Learn from Alexander Bustamante, Norman and Michael Manley and Edward Seaga. There is no real substitute for this type of F2F engagement.
• The person “uptown” and the person “downtown” each has one vote. It’s who you get to come out on election day that counts.
• There are 24 strategic constituencies in Jamaica that have determined the outcome of the last three general elections (2007, 2011 and now 2016). There are permanent trends and behaviour shifts occurring. Study the statistics and behaviour of the voters in these 24 constituencies and you will know how to win an election in Jamaica.
• The people of Jamaica do not like violence and negative personal attacks anymore. Focus on policies and practices for the upliftment of Jamaica and for all Jamaicans.
I wish for a cooperative transfer of leadership within all areas of the public government sector as the JLP embarks on its turn of office.
Let both parties be reminded that the electorate is watching and do not ever get comfortable in an uncomfortable situation.
Lennox Parkins, MBA, PMP, CMA, CPA
Toronto, Canada
allan_parks@yahoo.com