The jury is still out on the People’s National Party’s readiness to resume big-league engagements. But one thing is certain, a lot of work lies ahead for the PNP and comrades should start getting busy because Bruce Golding and his Jamaica Labour Party will not be easy political pushovers as some may think. As such, the 2012 elections could hold many surprises. Therefore, the PNP should temper its dreams about regaining power in the near term and should not wager its prospects against deteriorating socio-economic conditions, as things could improve dramatically. But even if conditions worsen, unless the party quickly resumes its role as an active and competent defender of the people’s interest, electoral success shall remain elusive.

The PNP will have to reposition itself as a viable political vehicle capable of transforming into a government that facilitates development and should create opportunities for people so that they can actualise their hopes and dreams for a safe, happy and prosperous life. However, to achieve this, there are certain inalienable prerequisites that the party must embrace – prerequisites such as creating a credibly sound platform from which to project its plans to achieve quality governance and to fortify those plans with a template that illustrates how social and economic development will happen. These things must float to the top of the PNP’s agenda, parliamentary activities, stratagems for public engagement and outreach, and carefully intertwined into its political motifs moving forward.

There is no point denying that episodic tensions still linger, some three years after its 2006 internal presidential elections. So, until the PNP shakes off all the vestiges from that nightmare and cleanses itself of any bad blood that still loiters in its vitals, the party could be in opposition for quite some time, or it could become the government by default. But that is the last thing the PNP should aspire to become. As I see it, political parties elected on the basis of the “nuh betta barrel, nuh betta herring” standard, and not on the basis of sound policies or supremacy of leadership, are bitterly ineffective and hardly make positive differences, because leadership is never able to act decisively or attract robust support or intelligent followership.

Neither can the PNP fall prey to the fallacies of the past – fallacies that did nothing else but to eviscerate its historical progressive credentials and pedigree from the rest of its structure and weakened it as a national party. “National” implies democratic ownership – ownership by, for and of all the people. The “8-R” imperative for the party to rebuild, rebrand, renew, revolutionise, reposition, retrain the leadership cadre to regain relevance must be fortified and executed in tandem with a specific set of philosophical and practical objectives. These objectives should replicate the original set of aims and objectives that instructed the party’s beginning. The emphasis to “organise, organise, organise” must still resonate throughout the party.

The PNP will not succeed in forming the next government if it elects to ride solely on the back of exploitative politics by criticising government policies, however valid or necessary, or waiting for the administration to screw up. The party will have to present alternatives that can withstand rigorous analysis. Ironically, each time the PNP criticises the government, there are quick reconciliations being done of its own record in government, so the strategy going forward demands more than pure atmospherics. For, except for a few parliamentarians and some other supporters, such as Damion Crawford and Raymond Pryce, who continue to make positive contributions, the Opposition appears politically and legislatively comatose.

In fairness, and of late, Mrs Simpson Miller has been a stringent and articulate critic of government’s economic policies,

but her contribution is not enough to bring hope to many people who continue to see life as an endless equation of deprivation. It is hard to justify her reluctance to offer specific alternatives, except to view it as an indication that the party may be bankrupt of ideas. But, is the office of the Leader of Opposition not equipped with a research unit to help it craft alternative policies? The PNP will not regain power without radical shifts in how it currently conducts itself, as well as how it manages the affairs of state on behalf of the parliamentary minority, which happens to be nearly as big as the parliamentary majority.

It is for these reasons and more that the party is bound to face a Herculean task of wresting power from the JLP, socio-economic challenges notwithstanding. And, the degree of difficulty grows exponentially with its attempts to repair and erase the 18-year accumulation of negative perception of corruption and ineptitude that continues to taint the history of its stewardship. Yet, there are valuable lessons which the PNP can learn, and if it intends to form the next government, it has got to realise that it cannot carry the sloppiness that is so evident in much of what it does in opposition to the business of governance.

The public relations arm of the party, for instance, is either excessively blasé, incompetent, or downright dysfunctional to be taken seriously. For while Raymond Pryce does an excellent job getting media placements for the party, his efforts are often undermined by frequent re-calls and re-issuing of press releases, sometimes to correct grammatical errors and other related mistakes. Where is Lisa Hanna in all this and what is her role as spokesperson for information? Then, there are portfolio spokespersons, such as Basil Waite, who refuses to issue his releases through an official party e-mail account, preferring instead to use his private address; Julian Robinson, deputy general secretary, also uses a private e-mail address, which makes it rather difficult to distinguish between personal views and the party position.

If the party cannot coordinate or implement a simple, straightforward media and communications strategy, then what hope should anybody hold for its potential in government? It cannot be that complicated to have all communications channelled through one central clearing house that vets, edits, and approves all communiqués. Timely and accurate dissemination of information is as crucial to the political market as it is to the financial, as both audiences are equally discriminating. If the objective is to build confidence, then the efforts cannot appear counter-intuitive. And are things so financially bleak that the party cannot sponsor a few monthly broadcasts, to communicate elements of its Progressive Agenda and to share its vision for the country?

Finally, if the PNP is to survive as a progressive and effective political party, it cannot behave like an ostrich and bury its head in the sand when its record is scrutinised or criticised, then resurge with flapping wings to pat itself on the back for tiny past accomplishments such as marginally lower interest rates, which were too high to begin with. Put simply, the differences between the party’s perception of success and the people’s reality of its failure could not be any bleaker. So, as a first step toward renewal, the Opposition leader should begin to give active consideration toward reshuffling her Shadow Cabinet in tandem with the party’s renewal strategies.

Burnscg@aol.com