Come August 27 Jamaicans must decide whether a vote for the ruling People's National Party or the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party will be better for the country's upliftment and progress toward so-called First-World status. Truth is that Jamaica has never been and hopefully will never be a "Third-World country" for anyone but former slave masters and colonisers and present Euro-American exploiters.

Jamaicans love Jamaica and know that their country offers a treasured kind of existence that might not be experienced anywhere else on God's great planet, in spite of the numerous internal challenges. Well-meaning Jamaicans work towards the betterment of the country, including the preservation of its environment. Thus, we ponder whether Simpson Miller's PNP or Bruce Golding's JLP would do a better job of moving Jamaica forward.

Some polls give the PNP a small but significant lead over the JLP, despite voters' discontent with the ruling party over matters like corruption and crimes. Is the PNP lead due to the perceived superior leadership and personality appeal of PM Simpson Miller compared to Bruce Golding, or to superior organisational structure and community efforts by the PNP?
The PNP since Michael Manley has seemed more nationalistic than the JLP and so Jamaicans might trust Portia's regime more than Golding's party. Has Mr Golding done enough to restore the JLP to the party of Sir Alexander Bustamante and is the JLP now a viable alternative to the PNP?

Politics as usual will not hasten the upliftment and prosperity that Jamaica sorely needs. Seven areas of need stand out as we probe whether JLP or PNP would do a better job of uplifting Jamaica. First is crime reduction. Jamaica must move from among the top 10 most murderous nations in the world. Neither party seems to have what it takes in this area.
Crime has escalated during the 18 years of PNP rule and the JLP does not have a good track record, given the near civil war that beset Jamaica during their tenure in government. Both parties are keepers of garrisons and so supporting a third party or simply ignoring both JLP and PNP might better suit those whose main concern is Jamaica's high murder rate.

Second, Jamaica's poverty rate must be stemmed and standard of living lifted for more residents. This requires job creation, upgrading of communities, and the removal of Jamaica from the top 10 list of most indebted nations in the world. It is sinful for poor Jamaicans to be perennially manipulated and their votes bought for chicken back and white rum. PNP governments under Manley and PJ Patterson made efforts to help the poor, but Seaga's JLP preferred Ronald Reagan's trickle-down economics. So far, PM Portia has not made any major effort to eradicate poverty and neither has Bruce Golding presented any impressive plan to increase the "haves" and reduce the number of "have-nots". Very radical economic adjustments are needed to lift Jamaica's majority out of poverty. Neither Portia nor Bruce seems equal to the task.

Third, Jamaica's prosperity rate can be vastly increased if the Jamaican diaspora is given a more central and significant role in the country's politico-economic life. That includes allowing diaspora members to vote in Jamaica's elections. The diaspora keeps the national economy afloat with remittances. However, neither PNP nor JLP has made diaspora voting a major platform issue.

Fourth, better education for all Jamaicans is vital to our nation's survival and progress. Both parties have done much over the years to improve education, but each has tinkered with the system and caused serious flaws to develop. In the 1980s Seaga killed Manley's free education plan by imposing a cess for tertiary education. Then education minister, Dr Mavis Gilmour, had assured me as CAST student union president that the JLP would not have implemented the cess immediately. The JLP reneged on this promise and students staged a major protest march at the campus gates.
Now Golding is trying to resurrect what Seaga destroyed. Meanwhile, Portia's education ministry is placing GSAT students in schools which do not exist. Does either JLP or PNP really care for poor people?

Fifth, government reform with implementation of county government is long overdue, but both parties have given only lip service to local government restructuring. Golding promises some seemingly untenable changes in election date and both the JLP and PNP have talked about eliminating British Crown rule, but no scholarly plans have been presented by either party on how to move Jamaica to a republic smoothly. Both parties are guilty of more bark than bite in reforming government.

Sixth, social reform is needed to spark a moral revival among Jamaicans. Too many old values have been lost like love for neighbour and care for the indigent. Low aesthetic values, lawlessness, lack of civic pride and moral looseness are too rampant, and something must be done to instigate national pride. Seaga's beautification efforts were commendable and Manley's "Buy Jamaican" campaign was excellent. We are yet to see what Bruce or Portia can do in this regard.

Finally, mutually beneficial international relations and Jamaica's leadership in the world saw no better days than those of Michael Manley. Patterson's Caricom leadership was also commendable. But can Bruce or Portia take the necessary bold stand against Euro-American supremacy and other current realities in world geopolitics that seek to keep predominantly black countries in perpetual poverty and Third-World status? Portia's PNP seems to have a much better record here than Bruce's JLP. Could that be why the PNP is ahead in the polls? But neither Bruce nor Portia has so far risen to the status of Michael Manley or seems willing to stand up for their non-white electorate as, say, Hugo Chávez is doing. And that is one reason why I do not see either Golding's JLP or Simpson Miller's PNP as any better choice for real, uplifting change in Jamaica come August 27.
Rev Mervin Stoddart is a freelance writer out of Florida. INMerv@hotmail.com

To our readers: Dennis Morrison's column did not arrive in time for publication.

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