Dear Editor,
Normally, in Jamaica at least, whenever there is political upheaval in any of the two major political parties, the other one will capitalise on it. However, the deafening silence of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) with what is happing in the People’s National’s Party (PNP) isn’t so surprising.
When a Miami newspaper revealed some very damning allegations some weeks ago, a senior PNP politician, at a party rally, urged civil society to speak out about the allegations. Now that the PNP finds itself sinking in a quicksand of corruption allegations, the JLP has said precious little.
Indeed, the usual mudslinging that we Jamaicans have become accustomed to have ceased, at least for now.
Of course, all of these claims about both the PNP and the JLP are allegations, so we must await proof. Yet, I think that the ‘calm’ that we are seeing now may be seen as a good thing, even if it is for the wrong reasons.
This rare absence of the usual political mudslinging may be a good thing, in at least one respect. These politicians can, at least for the time being, demonstrate some amount of civility.
We wonder, though, if they are not cursing and insulting their political opponents because they themselves have something to hide and not because they want to be civil.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
Normally, in Jamaica at least, whenever there is political upheaval in any of the two major political parties, the other one will capitalise on it. However, the deafening silence of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) with what is happing in the People’s National’s Party (PNP) isn’t so surprising.
When a Miami newspaper revealed some very damning allegations some weeks ago, a senior PNP politician, at a party rally, urged civil society to speak out about the allegations. Now that the PNP finds itself sinking in a quicksand of corruption allegations, the JLP has said precious little.
Indeed, the usual mudslinging that we Jamaicans have become accustomed to have ceased, at least for now.
Of course, all of these claims about both the PNP and the JLP are allegations, so we must await proof. Yet, I think that the ‘calm’ that we are seeing now may be seen as a good thing, even if it is for the wrong reasons.
This rare absence of the usual political mudslinging may be a good thing, in at least one respect. These politicians can, at least for the time being, demonstrate some amount of civility.
We wonder, though, if they are not cursing and insulting their political opponents because they themselves have something to hide and not because they want to be civil.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com