Good start by the new opposition leader

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Politicians rarely accept election defeat easily. In fact, we have seen in Jamaica instances in which losing candidates have cried foul, making allegations of bogus voting, faulty electoral machinery or other perceived discrepancies.

However, despite the myriad complaints, political leaders have generally accepted the results of our elections, recognising that those results by and large represent the wishes of the public.

Unfortunately, we saw a sad departure from that in September 2007 when Mrs Portia Simpson Miller refused to acknowledge that the People's National Party (PNP) had lost the general election to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Thankfully, Mrs Simpson Miller appears to have matured politically since her "it ain't over" declaration on election night four years ago which sent the wrong signal to the country and the international community.

It is against that background that we commend Mr Andrew Holness, albeit belatedly, for conceding the December 29, 2011 election as soon as it became clear that the JLP had lost, and for his commitment last week that the Opposition will not become the Government's "nightmare".

Based on his pronouncements last Friday, Mr Holness appears to have a clear idea of the role of the Opposition and what it needs to accomplish to regain enough public trust for the electorate to give the JLP the privilege of again serving as the Government.

For it was the erosion of that trust that largely influenced Jamaicans to throw the JLP out of office last month, even as the electorate made it clear — by 48 per cent abstention — that neither party enjoys tremendous public confidence.

That, of course, is a dilemma that both parties, and indeed the entire country, need to address if we intend for our democracy to thrive and work in the best interest of all Jamaicans.

We will hold Mr Holness to his word that the Opposition will be "working steadily to achieve the Jamaican dream that we all want to achieve" and that it will "not oppose for opposing sake", because it is critical that Government and Opposition work together to tackle the difficulties now facing the country.

In fact, that kind of collaborative approach to governance is even more vital now as Jamaica seeks to stay afloat in a global environment that clearly has not seen the tail of the tempest that has damaged so many economies.

In that regard, we expect that the Opposition will be vibrant and cerebral in its contributions to debates on issues in the Parliament, and that it will not keep close to its chest policies that it believes will make better alternatives to those proposed and implemented by the Government.

It should be the intention that the beneficiary of good policies must be Jamaica first, ahead of the political parties.

We hope, too, that the humility now being demonstrated by Mr Holness and his party will not ebb if or when they are given another mandate because, as Mr Holness quite correctly put it, "the people are the ultimate force and ultimate power to reckon with".

That is something that all politicians should bear in mind, at all times, before they speak and act.

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COMMENTS (7)

0o k
1/18/2012

That was all she had said ....but I guess she was right it was not over yet and it was a Nightmare of epic proportions!
As for Comrade PSM maturing ......I doubt that!

blog dis
1/18/2012

@ fall mouth
The PNP won 3 of the 4 elections Mr. Walker presided as DOE, Im no fan of his but please try to be objective, I’m happy to see that PSM has matured since the 2007 elections however it doesn’t change the fact that her conduct and utterances at the time was unprofessional .We need to stop justifying bad behavior on the basis of our orange /green myopic leanings as that is one of the main reasons why we are where we are a country

fall mouth
1/17/2012

Mrs. S-Mr's reluctance to accept the 2007 defeat might well have been influenced by the fact that she learned that Scrappy who was then DoE was a closet member of the JLP.If so then who could blame her?.
A.H said this morning in Parliament that they will be watching every move of the PNP to see that it is above board. I hope the PNP will not feel that they are witch hunting if they conduct forensic audits to see that our money was well spent and that if not those responsible will pay..

Rick Edwards
1/17/2012

A pity this humility was not learnt a little earlier, but better late than never. It is important that the representatives of the JLP do more on the ground work in their constituencies and develop an empathy for ordinary Jamaicans. Maybe then they will learn to communicate effectively and regain the spirit of Bustamante which has been completely lost.

John Smith
1/17/2012

Considering the revelations of illegally nominated candidates with foreign citizenship and consequent by-elections Mrs Simpson-Miller's reluctance was wise and justified.

Cassandra Clarke
1/17/2012

wanda, i think it is wise to allow the Observer to make any assertions that they feel comfortable making. Portia can do nothing good for them. No matter how suttle or simple they always find something sweet to say about the JLP and kill the PNP. This can be seen in very cartoons that Clovis publishes day after day. I know they might not post this truth but it will still exist in the minds of fair people.

wanda woeman
1/17/2012

It would have been very curious if Mr. Holness had made a claim of bogus voting or faulty electoral machinery when they were the party in power and had expressed full confidence in the electoral office prior to the elections.
It is also very disingenuous of the Observer to make a comparison between the elections in 2007 and Mrs. Simpson-Miller’s “refusal “ to acknowledge that the PNP had lost the elections and now. Then, days after the elections it was a matter of a few thousand votes and seats which separated the parties. In December the elections could be called by as early as 9:30 p.m. and by then it was patently clear that the JLP had been soundly trounced.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

Good start by the new opposition leader