THE People’s National Party (PNP) won a decisive victory on Thursday, December 29, 2011. It won 42 seats compared to the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) 21. By any calculation or determination, that is a landslide.

The party won the election despite the fact that many predicted that it would have lost. The Gleaner on December 27, 2011 concluded that the JLP would have won 34 seats and the PNP 29. The Gleaner’s call was inexplicable, given the fact that Bill Johnson, its pollster, had indicated in his last poll, that the PNP had a lead of two per cent, and that the momentum was in favour for the PNP.

The sceptic, Gordon Robinson, predicted that the JLP would have won 50 seats to the PNP’s 13. Ian Boxhill said it was too close to call, but an examination and extrapolation of his poll findings would have led one to believe that the JLP would win. The Observer cartoonist undertook a relentless onslaught against the PNP, especially against the party leader the Most Hon Portia Simpson Miller, and Peter Bunting, the PNP general secretary. Mark Wignall, understandably, predicted a JLP victory, and of course, not surprisingly, Cliff Hughes and his Nationwide News Network, called it for the JLP.

Malice towards none

I point out these acts of miscalculations, not for the purpose of recrimination, but in order to remind readers that they must always be wary of those persons who take it upon themselves to speak on behalf of the people, without speaking with the people. The PNP holds no grudge against those who got it wrong, because the PNP has always believed that all views must contend, and the party has always shown that it is a party for all Jamaicans.

The only pollster who had the guts to call it, based on the belief in his methodology, was Don Anderson. He, going against the trend of some ‘so-called’ public commentators, found that the PNP had a lead of over four per cent, and he predicted that the PNP would have won 35 seats to the JLP’s 28. He never got the seat count right but he got the party right.

For that, he came under tremendous public pressure from many ‘armchair’ analysts, with one, who shall remain nameless, from a radio station, sending out a BlackBerry message which read, ‘Is he Don or Done’. Some in the JLP, rather than digesting the message, chose to attack Mr Anderson’s credibility and professionalism. However, his position has been vindicated by the people of Jamaica.

The persons who did not call it for the PNP had obviously written off the party, but for good reasons the people, as is reflected in the election’s outcome, stood with the PNP.

Reasons for victory

Some of these persons are still struggling with the shock of a PNP victory and are still asking themselves what led to this landslide. I hereby put forward a few reasons for consideration:

1. The leadership of Portia Simpson Miller, along with that of Team PNP, was far superior to that of Andrew Holness’s centric leadership, which stressed ‘I’ rather than ‘we’. Having concluded that Bruce Golding was a liability, the JLP built its entire platform around Holness. He faltered every time he opened his mouth. Portia Simpson Miller worked hard and demonstrated care in her appeal to the Jamaican people. She showed that she could make presentations, with paper, or without paper, thus rebuffing the scurrilous attacks against her by G2K and the JLP. The more they attacked her, the more their attacks were seen as effrontery and disrespect to every person who looked like Portia and of her social class.

2. The people’s acceptance of the PNP’s message, that based on its record of performance and the proposals put forward to deal with the current challenges, it was the best party to govern Jamaica and return it to sustained economic growth while addressing their social condition. Columnists such as Ian Boyne, who consistently insult the people by arguing that they do not vote according to issues, have been left exposed by the fact that Jamaicans, including those at the grassroots, showed that they do consider issues. Boyne’s argument is the kind of disconnect which prevails amongst those who carry out their situational analysis from the rarefied atmosphere of air-conditioned rooms, rather than being out there with the people. The electorate were able to understand that the PNP’s offering was distinctly different from that of the JLP. Many of them, in their own ways, understand the issues far better than those among us, who claim to read a book or two per day.

3. The PNP’s organisational machinery was far superior to that of the JLP. This election was a classic case of organisation versus capital. Analysts who would wish to find out how the JLP could have spent so heavily and lost so badly must visit constituencies such as Eastern Hanover, Central Manchester, Western St Mary, West Rural St Andrew, East Rural St Andrew among others, to understand how the PNP’s organisational machinery was able to overcome the might of the JLP’s expenditure. Norman Manley’s instruction that the party must always organise, organise, organise, became the mantra of the PNP. It was this approach which many of the party standard-bearers and constituency organisers used to pull the rug from beneath the feet of those former JLP ministers and MPs who had grown out of touch with the people.

4. The people were hurting, and hurting badly, because of the economic policies of the JLP. During the four-and-a-half-years reign of the JLP, 96,000 net jobs were lost. If each job holder had an average of four dependents it would have meant that nearly 400,000 persons would have been directly affected by this. Under the JLP, unemployment grew from 9.6 per cent in 2007 to 11.8 per cent in 2011. The hurt experienced by the people was further demonstrated by the fact that poverty grew from 9.9 per cent in 2007 to 17.6 per cent in 2011. A number of commentators who predicted a JLP victory completely underestimated the level of hurt and suffering which the people were experiencing under the JLP. Audley Shaw, who maligned the PNP morning, noon and night, failed to tell the people that under his watch Jamaica, according to the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, had the worst macro economy in the world, being ranked 142 out of 142 countries.

5. The constant insults, abuse, and disrespect shown by the JLP functionaries to members of the public were not forgotten nor forgiven by the people. Bobby Montague’s verbal abuse of the matron in Portland; Daryl Vaz’s acidic attack against journalist Christene King; Everald Warmington’s tongue-lashing of Kerline Brown at CVM TV; Audley Shaw’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards the teachers, nurses, police personnel, and other public sector workers; Andrew Holness’s stubborn refusal to withdraw the appointment of his personal advisor as the head of the Teachers’ Services Commission, and many more, all made the JLP Government one of the most arrogant and intolerant in the political history of Jamaica. These few examples of the contempt for which the JLP held the people was further compounded by Daryl Vaz’s comments during the campaign that when the JLP was returned to power, it would ‘dig out’ all persons who were perceived to hold views dissimilar to those of the JLP.

6. The deluge of questionable and controversial actions taken by the JLP including, but not limited to, the Christopher Coke Affair and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).

Guiding principles of the PNP

Now that the PNP has won the election, there are certain principles, some of which were enunciated, at different times, during the campaign, which the party will be guided by:

1. That while there is the need for sustainable economic growth, coupled with the improvement in the social conditions of our people, the unemployment crisis, especially among our youth, will be tackled immediately. This cannot be left to the market. The State, while being fiscally prudent, and not adding to its debt stock, must, as soon as possible, roll out the planned emergency employment programme, the JEEP.

2. Arrogance, high-handedness, and treating our people as subjects will not be allowed to raise its ugly head at any time by any elected official. This stricture must not only apply to elected officials but also to persons who are appointed to State boards.

3. Every effort will be made to eliminate corruption from the process. The party has made a good start by putting in place an Integrity Commission which screened and approved all the candidates who represent the PNP. The leader of the party and prime minister of Jamaica, while ensuring that there is no violation of the legal principle of the presumption of innocence, will, as she has promised on more than one occasion, deal firmly with any PNP minister, MP or councillor who finds himself/herself engaged in any real or perceived act or acts of corruption.

4. The Government will be open, frank, and honest with the people. This is particularly against the background of the tough economic times in which the country finds itself. The Government and party will have constant dialogue involving all the stakeholders in the effort to deal with all the challenges facing the country.

In this context, the PNP led by Portia Simpson Miller will be a Government for all the people, whether they voted or did not vote, whether they voted for or against the PNP, and whether or not they predicted that the PNP would have won or not.

— Delano Franklyn is an attorney-at-Law and the PNP campaign spokesman

delanofranklyn@gmail.com