THE Sunday Observer continues its series of profiling newcomers to the political scene. This week it is the turn of Patricia Duncan Sutherland, the candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP) for the Clarendon South Eastern constituency.

PATRICIA DUNCAN SUTHERLAND (PDS)

SUNDAY OBSERVER (SO)

SO: Where are you coming from and why did you decide to enter representational politics?

PDS: I’m coming from DK Duncan and Joan Duncan, two people whose lives were based on service. Two people who have a deep sense of social justice. I’m coming from two people who understand organisation, who understand people and have a deep respect for the human race, and that’s why I came into politics.

SO: Did you join the PNP and become a candidate because of your father?

PDS: He would have everything to do with me entering politics. Who your parents are, they shape who you are and guide your belief system. My father’s commitment to national development and commitment to service, integrity and accountability has played a major role in my decision to enter representational politics. My exposure was at a very early age, probably age 10. It would have been me on the road with my father weekends. At that time, he was fully steeped in the politics, so it was inevitable.

SO: People are going to see you as a clone of D K Duncan. What is the difference between you and your father?

PDS: The difference would be my approach. My approach is of a more gentle persuasion. I’ve learnt a lot from what he has done and he would have taught me what he had learnt in terms of navigating the waters of politics. But I’m more like my mother than my father, actually. In the public’s eye, however, people are going to see the traits of my father because it is genetic.

SO: Is your family behind you as a politician?

PDS: One hundred per cent…they’re not behind me, they are beside me. I come with a high expectation of maintaining a significant sense of integrity with my work as a politician. All this, is based on my track record in working with the business community and how I conduct myself within the family.

SO: You left JMMB (Jamaica Money Market Brokers), a family business, some time ago. How has your departure affected the company given the role you played as executive director of business operations?

PDS: I left JMMB twice. I told my mother I would organise her operations at JMMB but I would only give her five years, because this is not my dream. I did just that. Mommy then died within that five-year period and by then, JMMB expanded significantly with four or five branches. However, I left to develop education.

SO: How did your mother’s death affect you personally and professionally?

PDS: Well, personally, of course… I miss her like crazy. But I wouldn’t tell you that the death of my mother affected me. Instead, the life of my mother did. The life of my mother played a major role in who I am today. You see the word called “love”? That would reflect the life of my mother and that would reflect why it is so ingrained inside of JMMB and ingrained in all of us as her children. In that respect, I’d say Mommy and Daddy were a good match…. (pause)…but not in all respects, can I tell you [chuckles].

SO: Traditionally, SE Clarendon has gone to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) more often than not: the late Sir Alexander Bustamante, Hugh Shearer, Rudyard Spencer, and the list goes on. Why SE Clarendon?

PDS: You’re looking at 63 constituencies; one could choose to represent a safe seat or a non-safe seat. I have to look at what is my driving force behind thinking about politics. It’s about lives that have changed, it’s about causing a shift in the role of the politician, and it’s causing a shift in the mind of Jamaicans so they are no longer perceiving themselves as dependent on the system. Instead, I want them to perceive themselves as independent individuals who are a part of a system and cause a system to work where it needs to. Working in a safe seat can do that, but that does not give enough of a challenge.

SO: Do you view the incumbent in South Eastern Clarendon, Ruddy Spencer, as a formidable opponent?

PDS: Yes, and if I didn’t I’d be a fool. There is nobody that should enter a competition and underestimate their opponent. Rudyard Spencer has been my friend for a long time. He’s ‘mi bredren’. I met him in the context of trade unionism where he is well- respected. Do I think I am a better candidate? Yes, I do, or else I would not have gone up against him. But I think he is a good man.

SO: Have you made any gains thus far in the constituency?

PDS: I have made in-roads into the margin which the last PNP candidate lost by. I would never tell anybody, as a good competitor, that all the work is complete because an election is not won until the end of Election Day.

SO: Are you confident that you will win?

PDS: I’m confident that I will win against Rudyard Spencer, against any candidate.

SO: Should the PNP win the next general election, and if you are successful in SE Clarendon, will you be expecting a ministerial position?

PDS: If I go into a position expecting an appointment, I would be rude and out of order and I’d be then putting myself ahead of service. I have come into politics to serve people. To go into it with that kind of expectation means that I am doing it for self.

SO: What are you going to do for back-to-school?

PDS: For the party workers, I have what I’d call support and empowerment services, where part of it is that we give them a loan for them to start up a chicken-rearing business and we give them technical support. The other side of it is that for a certain number of workers, we give some support to the children to go back to school. We give $5,000 per party worker to contribute to their children’s books, but not for all. We also help people to connect to the PATH system, who actually need help for back-to-school. A lot of people don’t realise there is a significant level of help that you can get from PATH.

SO: How would you rate the performance of the current administration?

PDS: Economic performance for the PNP in the context of where we were at in January 2012, I’d give them an ‘A’. I say that without apology. Because it came at a time when we needed to have a shift in the way we manage our economy. That shift has occurred, whether it be as a result of the agreements we made with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and we didn’t just make any agreement. We negotiated with what we could have made work and what we could live up to. I personally am hopeful that we are poised for growth.

SO: Some yes or no responses please! Are you for term limits?

PDS: Yes.

SO: Campaign funding?

PDS: Yes.

SO: Hanging?

PDS: No.

SO: Buying of votes?

PDS – An absolute no.

SO: What message would you like to send to the constituents in SE Clarendon?

PDS: I want them to consider that a politician is your facilitator and I would love that they choose their representative in the context of who is best fit to facilitate the development of SE Clarendon such that it would cause SE Clarendon to be your place of choice to live, work and raise families. Let me put it to you that a facilitator must operate in partnership, where all persons at the table are respected. My constituents are worthy to be at that table and I commit to being an equal partner with accountability and integrity with all my constituents.