It is not for nothing that Charles Dickens used the phrase “the law is an ass” in his 1838 novel Oliver Twist. But like it or not, we are a country of laws and not of men.

Hence we abide by last week’s ruling of the Supreme Court in rejecting the injunction to stay the immorally enforced resignation of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senators Dr Christopher Tufton and Arthur Williams. The law may be an ass, but it is our law.

We think that in time JLP Leader Mr Andrew Holness will see the folly of his ruthless and unwise purge of the party after a leadership election, which should be seen as par for the course in any democratic organisation.

His ouster of Dr Tufton from the Shadow Cabinet, the Senate and the leadership of the party was a cynical one pushed by party elders carrying out their hidden agenda.

Mr Holness seems to have accepted that someone like a Dr Tufton is necessary in the party’s Senate team, as evidenced by his selection of the brilliant Dr Nigel Clarke. At the same he seems to be saying: “See, I am not afraid of having bright people around me!”

Of course, Mr Holness’s purge bears stark contrast to how Mrs Portia Simpson Miller and the People’s National Party (PNP) handled Mr K D Knight, who had made some very strong statements expressing his doubt about her capacity to be the kind of leader that Jamaica needed.

Mrs Simpson Miller showed maturity and self-confidence in tolerating a variety of views within the PNP’s democratic internal politics. This gesture paid huge dividends when the party regained power only four years later.

Yet, as he moves on, Dr Tufton must realise that party politics is not the only way to give national service. Jamaica is badly and urgently in need of politically independent interventions. Jamaicans For Justice co-founder Dr Carolyn Gomes is an example of someone who has had a major impact on political issues in Jamaica outside of the ambit of the major political parties.

Dr Tufton is already the head of the country’s leading think tank, the Caribbean Policy Research Institute. Jamaica desperately needs empirical-based policy analysis to help relieve the current economic paralysis, exponentially growing crime and social distress.

He should resume his career as a university lecturer, enriched by his policy experience, and write on policy issues. He is well qualified because he holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Manchester University, a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Georgia State University and a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies.

Dr Tufton need not give up party politics entirely, but could take a sabbatical and wait for the call. Given the paucity of talent it might not be long before he receives such a call, conceivably even from the PNP.

This mode of advancement in politics is what has been called the technocratic route to power. It was pioneered by Mr Michael Manley, who was enamoured with bright, ambitious technocrats, many of whom answered the call and left the lecterns of academia for the ministerial ranks, for example, Messrs Paul Robertson, Peter Phillips and Omar Davies.