Careful how you invoke imagery of violence, Mr Bunting

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A marked change came over Jamaican general elections in 2002 when violence seemed to have been at its lowest since the 1970s. Subsequent elections were even better in that respect.

Naturally, therefore, we winced at the recent imagery invoked by Mr Peter Bunting, the general secretary of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) and the party's candidate for Central Manchester.

Mr Bunting started off well by condemning the defacing of a billboard erected by his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) opponent, Mr Danville Walker in Mandeville. He emphasised that the country and the constituency "must never again allow the political temperature to be elevated to such an insane level". But then he couldn't seem to help himself and so proceeded to do the very thing he warned about — elevating the political temperature.

"I well remember the horrifying incident the weekend before the 2007 general election when one of my campaign vehicles was riddled with AK-47 bullets from a drive-by shooting, which left four innocent supporters dead, including a PNP indoor agent," Mr Bunting said in a press statement about the defacing incident.

If something as dastardly and painful as that happened, as described by Mr Bunting, then it is understandable that he would have been seething. As the candidate involved, he would most certainly have felt some amount of responsibility and remorse for the victims and their families.

Yet, that is not a feeling that should be carried over into another election. If Mr Bunting has not yet got over this hump, terrible as it was, he might want to seek therapy.

Our concern arises from the fact that he could so readily compare the defacing of a billboard with the killing of four persons, including a party workers four years ago.

The digging up of that dreadful episode risks reopening old sores, some of which might not have been fully healed, at a time when the political parties should be stressing the necessity for peaceful elections.

In addition to that, Mr Bunting used the opportunity to mention something else that has apparently been troubling him. He urged the JLP to cease placing their vehicles blaring political music in front of his constituency office, noting that the two ladies who work in the office perceived it as intimidation, and that it was unfair for his staff to have to work under these conditions.

That he did not draw public attention to this clear act of intimidation, before the defacing incident, suggests that Mr Bunting allows things to fester and gives the impression, wittingly or unwittingly, that the defacing could be some sort of retaliation for the blaring music in front of his office.

While this is mere conjecture on our part, we would like to suggest to Mr Bunting that he should act as soon as something goes wrong and avoid coming across as bitter and vengeful.

And for its part, the JLP should put an immediate stop to acts of intimidation. This does not sit well with the notion that there is now a leader who is new, fresh, different and represents the hope of a new politics.

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Careful how you invoke imagery of violence, Mr Bunting