THREE years after the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) secured a heart-stopping 31-29-seat victory in the September 3, 2007 general elections and formed the Government, officials on both sides of the political divide are agreeing that the ruling party has been damaged by its involvement with the United States law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP), through its deputy general secretary Julian Robinson, admitted that the JLP had made positive strides in some sectors, but the gains were overshadowed by the stain of the Manatt Phelps and Phillips affair.

"I think this has been the pinnacle of the deterioration in governance since they took office, and I also think the Jamaican people have lost a lot of trust in the leadership of the party over its involvement in and handling of the Manatt Phelps and Phillips affair," Robinson told Sunday Observer.

According to Robinson, a scenario of half-truths and obfuscation has overshadowed "every good thing the Government has done because it is fresh in the minds of the people and it goes to the heart of what governance is about, which is trust".

The ruling party, he believes, has also displayed "very little knowledge of governance and governance structures -- weaknesses which started long before Manatt".

"It started with the firing of the Public Services Commission (PSC), which I don't think many people have made a connection with, which has now come back to haunt them with the selection of a solicitor general," said Robinson in reference to the sacking of the PSC after it recommended Professor Stephen Vasciannie for the job over Douglas Leys.

"It continued with the way the Government handled senior civil servants, persons whom they fired on spurious grounds, in many cases without due cause," added Robinson, one of two deputy general secretaries in the PNP and caretaker for the South East St Andrew constituency.

The missteps, he said, continued with the treatment of public servants, resulting in a hostile industrial relations climate. While acknowledging that the country has little money to pay large bodies of public sector workers, Robinson said arrogance and disrespect were shown, where amends should have been made.

Several groups, including nurses, the police and civil servants were due increases under the public sector Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). However, the tight fiscal situation, which caused the Government to sign a standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), placed a caveat on spending.

Still, some public sector workers have demanded increases that were due under the MOU. The Government has acknowledged its responsibility, but has said it is unable pay all that's outstanding at one time.

Robinson's analysis on the effect the Manatt affair has had on the Government found agreement with Andrew Holness, the JLP's top communications man and education minister.

"My answer to you is that the party is very much seized of the importance of trust, credibility and confidence and we acknowledge that we have taken a significant blow with the Manatt issue," Holness said Friday.

Holness, who is also member of parliament for West Central St Andrew, said the Government was well aware of some of the negative sentiments aimed towards it on the issue. He said the party has done well on several fronts, "but on the political front, I think we are suffering some blows for the Manatt affair".

A senior government functionary agreed with the minister, and said, if the JLP "could only free itself of the Manatt stranglehold, it may be able to breathe again".

"It's hard not evaluate the JLP's performance through the eyes of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. Irrespective of how they spin it, it is a scandal, because it turns out that the action was over the extradition request of an individual who is genetically linked to the JLP," the party insider said.

That stain, he said, had also tainted Solicitor General Douglas Leys, who the PNP has called on to resign for bringing the office into disrepute. He believes the PNP's call was "reasonable as, were the shoes on the other foot, the call would have turned into deafening howls".

To date, only former Senator Ronald Robinson, the junior minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has paid any political price. He resigned after it was revealed that he was present at a meeting in Washington with representatives of the US-based law firm.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has also offered explanations on the matter, but opinion polls have shown that the party has lost ground as more than 60 per cent of individuals surveyed believe they have not been told the truth about the entire affair.

Generation 2000 (G2K) — the group of young professionals affiliated with the ruling party — on Thursday dodged the question of the damage the party had caused on itself.

Holness said among JLP support there has been disappointment.

"The JLP managed to win because we convinced the uncommitted voters that we are party that would take a different approach to governance, an approach of transparency, trustworthiness, and especially among the young voters who have invested their time, effort and emotions, there is a great level of dissonance now, even disappointment to some. But I don't think it is irretrievable," Holness said.

According to the minister, the Jamaican society is based on Christian principles which include redemption, forgiveness, atonement and second chances, and the party had faith in the Jamaican people.

"We are working to rebuild, and that rebuilding process involves putting out all the information," he said. "I think the Jamaican electorate is discerning enough to weigh all the facts, and so I think it is in the interest of the JLP to present all the facts, and allow the electorate to discern and make their own decisions."

Both Robinson and Holness acknowledged that strides have been made. In fact, Holness said the JLP had done better than the PNP in its first three years in office between 1989 and 1992.

"They faced similar crises, crises of their own making. The rapid opening of the economy which led to massive devaluations, explosion in the inflation rate, that is their own making. But the crises we faced were not of our own making in the economy per se. We inherited a country with a recession looming, high oil prices, the food crisis, and collapse in the American real estate market. I think we have managed the economics very well inspite of the difficult times," Holness said.

"I think there have been some positive developments. There are areas where there have been some improvements. I would say if you look at the economy, if you take the fact that interest rates have come down and are trending down, I think that is a positive development, because the rates that existed in the past were certainly too high," he said.

Pointing also to the Jamaica Debt Exchange programme, he said it has provided temporary breathing room for the Government as it reduces the sums used to pay debt. He also pointed to signs of growth in agriculture and reiterated that the country has managed to hold its own in tourism.

However, Holness said the extradition issue and the subsequent relationship with the United States could not have been predicted, but it was his hope that the party would regain the trust of the people.

"I have learnt that people don't rule by faith, they rule on trust and once that trust has been affected, it becomes very difficult to do the job," he said. "And where there is a trust issue, the only solution is transparency. It will take time, but I believe the trust can be rebuilt."

But Robinson said the Manatt issue cannot be willed away, and is kept alive as contradictory statements are emerging ever so often.

  0 comments

  12 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  1 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments

  0 comments