DISILLUSIONED by the recently televised Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry — which painted a less than flattering picture of some politicians — some Jamaicans now long for leaders past, even those dead and gone.

This is one of the more recent findings of Dr Herbert Gayle’s Complete Snapshot study, which shows that 49 or 20 per cent of 240 people sampled “regretted the passage of the years” and listed former government members as their preferred leaders.

The 240 people, sampled between July 6 and 14, were drawn from St Mary, Westmoreland, St Thomas, St James, the Kingston Metropolitan Region — Kingston, Portmore and Spanish Town. They were categorised as:

* 30 rural males aged 18 to 34 years old; 30 rural males older than 35;

* 30 urban males aged 18 to 34 years old and 30 urban males older than 35;

* 30 rural females aged 18 to 34 and 30 rural females older than 35; as well as

* 30 urban females aged 18 to 34 and 30 urban females older than 35.

Asked to identify politicians who were honest, credible, hard-working, bright and who put the interest of the nation above self, 17 or 35 per cent of those people — all of them older than 35 — pointed to Burchell Whiteman, a former People’s National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament for North Western St Ann, as their leader of choice. He is someone, they said, who has all the named qualities.

Whiteman began his career as a politician in 1989, having established himself as an educator, and was principal of York Castle High and Brown’s Town Community College.

In 1992, he was appointed to Cabinet as the Minister of Education, Youth and Culture where he served for a decade before opting not to run for office in the 2002 general elections. Whiteman has more recently been Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He holds the Order of Jamaica for his outstanding contribution to education and the legislature.

Thirteen or 27 per cent of the 49 — nine or 69 per cent of them over 35 — selected former prime minister PJ Patterson as their leader.

“All 13 said he is the brightest PM the country has had, however, only four said he was credible and five said he was honest,” said Gayle in his report on the study, which is undertaken to inform his radio talk show ‘The Complete Picture’, aired Mondays to Thursdays, 12 noon to 3:00 pm on NewsTalk 93 FM.

Patterson holds a degree in English from the University of the West Indies and a bachelor of laws degree from the London School of Economics. After earning his law degree, he passed the bar in Britain and Jamaica.

Patterson, who The Economist newspaper at one time reportedly described as ‘a reticent man in a loud-mouthed country’, also has the reputation of a being a savvy politician. He worked his way through the ranks of the PNP from the 1950s to become party president and prime minister of Jamaica in 1992, holding countless positions of power along the way.

Patterson is also the only political leader to hand his party a historic three consecutive victories in Jamaica’s general elections. He is held in high esteem, not only in Caricom, but also in a number of international and hemispheric groupings, notably the Organisation of American States, the United Nations, and in the Group of 77 and China, of which he was, at one time, chairman.

Edward Seaga, also a former prime minister of Jamaica, was selected by eight or 16 per cent of the 49 people — five of them over 35 — as their leader. The majority of them (seven) said he was bright, four said he was credible and three said he worked hard.

The one-time Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader holds a bachelor of arts degree in social studies from Harvard University. Among other things, he has the distinction of being the youngest person appointed to the Legislative Council (now the Senate), which set the framework for Jamaica’s independence in August 1962. This, after he was nominated by the late Sir Alexander Bustamante, a former leader of the JLP.

Seaga has also long inspired the confidence of Jamaicans, certainly those members of his West Kingston constituency where he was unbeatable. Having won the seat in 1962, he held on to it for more than 40 years until his retirement from politics in 2007. He is also credited with many economic and social programmes that have had a significant impact on the island’s growth and development.

Also featured on the list of former leaders for whom Jamaicans yearn is late Prime Minister Michael Manley, who many say is perhaps the most charismatic leader the island has had. He, like Whiteman, was deemed by seven of the 49 people to possess all the desired qualities — honesty, credibility, diligence, brilliance and the ability to put country above self.

The Jamaica College past student studied politics, philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics. Throughout his years in politics — and before that, in the trade union movement — Manley made a name for himself as a gifted leader with the declared interest of the poor his number one priority. In his first two terms as prime minister, for example, education was made available, free of cost, to all students.

At the end of his political career, he had been prime minister for three terms and head of the PNP for some 25 years. He authored several books, including Politics of Change: a Jamaican Testament and Poverty of Nations: Reflections on Underdevelopment and World Economy, received Jamaica’s Order of Merit and Order of the Nation, as well as the Order of the Caribbean Community and recognition by the UN for his contribution ito the fight against apartheid in South Africa.

Bustamante, a strident trade unionist and Jamaica’s first prime minister, also made the list. Four people of the 49, all of them over 35, chose the man who is now one of Jamaica’s national heroes — having not only made contributions to politics, but having also dedicated his life to campaigning for workers’ rights.

Meanwhile, 25 or 10 per cent of the 240 sampled overall, could not identify a single leader from among existing politicians as possessing even one of the leadership qualities.

“These 14 urban and 11 rural persons expressed complete disgust with the country’s politics and politicians. Some went as far as describing today’s politicians as ‘thieves’, ‘scum of the earth’, and ‘filthy’,” said Gayle, who is an anthropologist of social violence and a lecturer at the University of the West Indies.

“One 35-plus (year-old) male said sarcastically that the question was unfair. He suggested that it should have been worded negatively and the responses would have flowed,” the researcher added.