BLAINE undaunted by failure of third parties

Observer Press Club

BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, August 15, 2010

JAMAICA'S political history is fraught with convincing evidence that it is a graveyard for third parties. But Betty Ann Blaine, convener of the recently launched New Nation Coalition (NNC), is undaunted by that.

"... Cynics come a dime a dozen. Pundits too. We are not deterred or daunted by anything that anybody might say about third parties, Blaine said at the Observer Press Club last Thursday.

"We are describing ourselves as the new movement or the new party... We are not daunted by the cynics. The cynics said that (Barack) Obama couldn't win, apartheid would never be dismantled, the Berlin Wall would never come down in their lifetime, and slavery, they said it would be around forever and ever amen," said the woman who heads the country's 46th third party since Independence in 1962.

Blaine thinks Jamaica is ripe for another and believes divine guidance leading the NNC will give it immunity from an early death.

"Our brand is Christianity but we invite everybody on board," she said. "We are saying who we are, we are not telling you who you are. Christianity is our brand, but our product is open to everyone. I want everybody on board."

The National Democratic Movement (NDM), the last major third party of repute, was officially launched October 29, 1995. It is now creeping towards 15 years, with an uncertain future, declining membership, very little traction, and no financial support.

In fact, just last week the party's president, Earl Delisser, announced the dissolution of its Council of Spokespersons with immediate effect.

A news release from the party reported Delisser as saying that the NDM is now undergoing a process of fundamental transformation which, though long overdue, will culminate in a more focused and vibrant political organisation.

Delisser said that a new Council of Spokespersons will be appointed after the party's 15th anniversary dinner on October 29.

The NDM's decline started after the party failed to win a seat in the 1997 general elections. Its founding president, Bruce Golding — who is now the prime minister — threw in the towel and returned to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), where he was chairman for 27 years, on the eve of the 2002 elections.

After Golding, another talk show host, Antoinette Haughton, formed the United People's Party (UPP). That party contested the 2002 general elections and received 548 votes, but its fortunes faltered shortly after and it died with the limited fanfare it received at its launch.

The Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Political Party (IEWFIPP) also contested those elections and received 162 votes.

Also in 2002, the New Jamaica Alliance (NJA) — a merger of the NDM, the Republican Party of Jamaica and the Rev Al Miller-led Jamaica Alliance for National Unity — contested the elections. It received 2,895 votes and then died suddenly.

Since then, the NDM fielded candidates in the 2007 general elections although not much is heard about the party.

All this, however, has not shaken Blaine's confidence.

"I think the reason why third parties have not done as well as they could is that you have to understand how the two parties have been entrenched in this country," she said of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and the Opposition People's National Party which have held power at different periods over the 48 years since Jamaica secured political independence from Britain.

"I call it structural entrenchment and how difficult it is. I know that. The two parties were born out of the labour movement and I understand that kind of connection. There are lots of older Jamaicans who will not change. We know that."

She explained how that entrenchment has virtually strangled all other parties.

"I think, tough, the real problem about why they haven't survived is about party financing and this marriage between special interests (the people who back political parties) and the parties. I think it has been very difficult for smaller parties coming up, new ones to break into that culture of nepotism and cronyism and who gets contracts," she said.

According to Blaine, third parties often do not have access to how party financing apparatus is set up. They often do not know who are on the boards of companies, who are the contributors, who support who. In addition, she said political "garrisonisation" of constituencies, resulting in almost 100 per cent vote in favour of one side, political intimidation and vote-buying, are factors against third parties achieving success.

But third parties, she insisted, have to help themselves, and the people who have put themselves up for office must be examined.

"Who are the people who have stepped up to the plate?" she asked. "Were they able to win the hearts and minds of the Jamaican people, did they work hard, did they stick to it long enough? I mean, you have to really give the NDM credit, still a fledgling party after 15 years, for staying course."

While that respect for the NDM may not have influenced the NNC's views as expressed on its flyer, political pundits could not help but notice a bit of similarity between the two.

"We hold firm to the belief that Jamaica is a nation of talented, powerful, positive people with the capacity to fully maximise our God-given potential to achieve justice, peace and prosperity for every Jamaican," says the NNC document.

Compare that to Golding's address at the launch of the NDM at the Jamaica Conference Centre.

"The Jamaican people do not have to suffer like this," he said. "Time and time again we have demonstrated our capacity for excellence. ...Politics ought to be about the means by which the people of Jamaica are mobilised and organised and their energies harnessed to achieve broad national objectives."

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COMMENTS (14)

david smith
8/16/2010

They curse JLP and PNP how they are wicked and dont help people. In fact both parties even curse each other. Yet still people already fail the new party, but cry that the other two not helping.

gary lee
8/15/2010

I see nothing wrong wrong with the NNC branding itself a Christian Party, and holding to religious values. The fact is Jamaica is largely a christian nation, which provides us with some unity of purpose and sense of justice. Have we forgotten our national anthem?

Nejeeper KNG
8/15/2010

Many have come in the name of Christianity and end up deceiving the people. I grew up going to church and have come to find out that there are many who never set foot in a church but have more love than those who are regular church goers. A 3rd party may be the next best thing but using religion as a launching pad is a bad start. Ms. Blaine prove to Jamaicans that your r in touch and start talking about the real issues. It is going take lots of wisdom to change our current course. Show us u are?

Anancy Bedward
8/15/2010

Ms Blaine, to get votes in JA you have to let off money, crash program work and nuff free food come election time while promising paradise if you're elected. Surely you know this fact Ms Blaine. I hope the disappointment you'll feel from the overwhelming rejection of your party at the next election does not cause you to lose your faith.
.
Moses was convinced of the rightness of his cause when he killed the Egyptian slave master yet the Israelites rejected him and him haffi run wey go bush!

Concerned Citizen
8/15/2010

@ lol at wharf dawg - so failure is imminent? I happen to agree. I think a lack of political experience and the general naivety of christian 'charity' types like herself has culminated into an unfortunate feeling of proactive euphoria. Divine Guidance? Really? I know you mean well Mz. Blaine. but I think you are in the wrong ring. drop down a few weight classes, maybe back to the charity, more good will come from that.

howie J
8/15/2010

Jaye Stone described religion as a pacifier which serves a purpose and then abandoned with improved technology. If this is so, where is the technological brilliance in Jamaica, which renders Jamaicans mature enough in their thinking to remove religion from their daily lives? Where is there an indication that it is time for Jamaica to get rid of its pacifier? Are you looking at the success of other nations thinking that Jamaica has reached the same level of maturity in thinking?

K G
8/15/2010

The Christian Taliban are on the move, don't give them the chance. Remember Jim Jones he called his peoples temple a divinely created nation. Don't drink the kool aid.

howie J
8/15/2010

Ezra Taft Benson of the Eisenhower Administration in an article called, “The Proper Role of Government” wrote, “America was built upon a firm foundation and created over many years from the bottom up. Other nations, impatient to acquire equal abundance, security and pursuit of happiness, rush headlong into that final phase of construction without building adequate foundations or supporting pillars. Their efforts are futile.”
Good luck Ms. Blaine.

Wharf Dawg
8/15/2010

I have one bit of advice to offer and that is to forget the general elections.. establish yourself at the local government level then build on it.. Start small.. failure is minimal.. start big, failure is amplified.

Jaye Stone
8/15/2010

I have nothing against a third party. It's the "divine guidance" that's absolutely scary.

Kweli Simba
8/15/2010

"Blaine thinks Jamaica is ripe for another and believes divine guidance leading the NNC will give it immunity from an early death." It is always good to ask for didvine guidance in anything you do. However, to get a viable other party in he race will require all that she mentioned and more. In addition, Jmaicans are asking for new blood and leadership in the JLP & PNP not new entities. The christianity brand is a non-starter. If that is done to attract the christian population of Jamaica, they will have to wheel and come again. Most Christians are hard-core PNP & JLP and will not tolerate anything different. The NNC will be best suited as watchdog group, exposing fraud and corruption in the parties while honing their representational skills for the future.

owen lloyd
8/15/2010

Jamaica needs change but divine guidance from 2000 year old mythological stories is not the way to do it.

george watson
8/15/2010

It is good that Ms. Blaine made the point that critics come a dime a dozen. It is a pity, based on the history of third parties in JA, that she won't be able to find out first hand that it is easier being a talk show host than a doer.
She might have mentioned that they come a dime per 100.
Talking the talk is easy. It is walking the walk that is hard.
The messiah we are awaiting wont come. It is up to each of us, but we want somebody to do it for us and the politicians wont. tell us.

Carlos Bryson
8/15/2010

It is not so much about the difficulty third parties face as it is about the brand you bring to the table. Christianity is religion and most people think that should be personal. Plus there ought to be separation between shurch and state.
To be effective the party must be for constitutional reforms with strict separation of powers and local autonomy. Plus, the democratization of the political process.
With the right message many in the diaspora would be glad to help.

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BLAINE undaunted by failure of third parties