Michael Burke

So Portia Simpson Miller is to be prime minister of Jamaica, having won the presidency of the governing People's National Party. As you might know, my preference was Dr Peter Phillips so I am disappointed, although not surprised. It was nevertheless a major triumph for the internal democracy of the PNP. Other political parties could well take heed. And now comes the hard part - to govern the country.

The People's National Party members of parliament have indicated that they will support Mrs Simpson Miller. But not to expect problems when most PNP MPs supported Dr Phillips is bordering on fantasy. Of course, the PNP MPs, on paper at any rate, will support and show confidence in Portia. But let's get real: what sort of healing do you really think will take place? We are dealing here with politics, not church.

True, the campaign might not have been as nasty as the media made it out to be and the politicians might understand that. For example, the utterances of KD Knight seem to have been carefully edited by one television media house that might have been rooting for Portia. But some harsh words were passed and forgiveness does not come that easily.

Indeed, Hugh Shearer encountered problems when he had a single-vote majority among the JLP MPs when he was prime minister. He became prime minister in 1967 and in that year it was "verandah talk" all over Jamaica about the problems in the Cabinet. And by August 1971 the headline of a daily newspaper was "Split in the cabinet".

At the 1971 JLP conference, there was an attempt at a show of unity. There was an act of embrace, relayed on television between Edward Seaga and the late Wilton Hill. You should have seen the expression on Seaga's face! The performance failed to convince the electorate, which voted for the PNP, led by Michael Manley in 1972.

In 1969, a majority of the PNP MPs favoured Vivian Blake while the delegates overwhelmingly favoured Michael Manley. Like 2006, the MPs could not deliver the delegates to the candidate of their choice. Why won't some political analysts research some facts before they make statements about "paradigm shift" and other such things?

In terms of tertiary qualifications, it is not a paradigm shift that Portia Simpson Miller has been elected, because she does in fact possess tertiary certification, even if by correspondence course. The fact is that Jamaica has never had a doctor of philosophy (PhD) as prime minister of Jamaica. Norman Manley, who became premier in colonial Jamaica, had been a Rhodes scholar, but had only a first degree.

Indeed, the only paradigm shift is the obvious: the prime minister-designate is a woman, which, as you know, is a first for Jamaica. In another newspaper this past Tuesday, Beverley Anderson-Manley traced Simpson Miller's history and said that she was the first woman PNP vice-president. I doubt if that is absolutely correct. Either the 1960 or 1961 Handbook of Jamaica lists Iris King as either a third or fourth vice-president at a time when the vice-presidents were ranked.

But in terms of the independence of PNP delegates when voting over the last nearly 68 years of PNP existence, it is only when the PNP needs to do "house cleaning" of paper groups that some MPs are able to send delegates from groups that do not exist. The last house cleaning of paper groups was done in the months leading up to the special delegates conference that was held this past Saturday.

From 1969 to this day, Vivian Blake would complain that many who said that they would vote for him did not, similar to what Maxine Henry-Wilson said in response to Saturday's results. This is why P J Patterson gave the four candidates and their campaign teams a friendly warning to this effect.
And he spoke from his experiences of being campaign manager for Michael Manley in 1969 and being a presidential candidate in 1992.

But in 1969 the PNP was in Opposition. There was time to ensure that most of the PNP candidates in the 1972 election were people loyal to Michael Manley. In 1992, in addition to a landslide victory among the PNP delegates, at least 37 MPs indicated support for P J Patterson in a published campaign advertisement.

This time around, quite a few things are different. Yes, a majority of the electorate, according to the opinion polls, are in favour of Portia Simpson Miller. True, the MPs have unanimously endorsed Simpson Miller to be prime minister. But she got a simple majority in the PNP delegates' conference on Saturday. Less than half of the delegates voted for her, unlike the landslide that Michael Manley or P J Patterson enjoyed in 1969 and 1992 respectively. And Portia Simpson Miller is not the first choice among a majority of the PNP MPs.

Congratulations to Portia Simpson Miller on her victory. And congratulations to my brother Paul Burke, although our preferences for the PNP presidency were not the same.

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