UNTAMED reactions to the massive 1989 electoral defeat of the Edward Seaga-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) remain indelibly etched in my mind. However, of all the political loose talk that accompanied the many expressions of disappointment and anger, one continues to occupy first position on my memory shelf. The day after the massive electoral trouncing, while Comrades celebrated and Labourites licked their wounds of defeat, a staunch Labourite who went by the moniker “Senator Cow Head” chalked up enough courage and strength to declare, “Jamaicans are as ungrateful as we are ungovernable…For everything that Eddie has done to bring deliverance, look how oonu treat ‘im…”

Known for his excessive adherence to ecclesiastical principles and forms, Senator Cow Head drew from the Holy Scriptures to illustrate his assessment of the political behaviour of his countrymen in their treatment of Seaga and the JLP. He said: “Jamaicans remind me of the Children of Israel.” He then proceeded to quote verbatim how they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. With the lilt of a rural preacher, Senator Cow Head recited thusly: “All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Seaga and the JLP were swept to power in 1980 on the platform of “deliverance” and on the promise of “making money jingle in your pockets”. Jamaicans had undergone the tough Manley years of Democratic Socialism, social reengineering and harsh economic times. Seaga undertook wide-scale economic reforms that, at one time, caused him to quip, “It takes cash to care…” and at another time to bark, “If you cannot afford to pay to license your vehicle, perhaps you should not be driving one…” or some variation of that.

Times were tough economically, and the Government needed additional revenue; therefore, it mandated new licence plates as a means of raising the additional revenues.

It is true that the JLP inherited, in October 1980, an economy that was in absolute ruins. As stated many times prior, the collapse of the Jamaican economy, under the Michael Manley-led Government of the 1970s, came about because of an amalgamation of circumstances. The alloy included poor management of the domestic economy, geopolitical upheavals, huge upward movements in oil and wheat prices; declines in bauxite and alumina prices, domestic social and civil unrest, realignment of social class arrangements, and a sustained period of vicious and nasty political sabotage.

Seaga and the JLP did their very best to restore hope, improve economic activities, stabilise the economy, improve investor confidence, and restore social order and the rule of law. Without apology, and without fear of contradiction, I daresay that the accomplishments of the JLP in the years between 1980 and 1988 were significant, transformational and far-reaching. That notwithstanding, in spite of robust economic growth, the gains were not enough to erase or ease the pain of the masses.

It is true that some of the economic achievements did not translate into rewards or tangible benefits for the majority of people on whose backs the economic recovery rested and took form. Additional belt-tightening, increased taxes and rationalisation of health services, for instance, increased the misery index in ways unimaginable. Before long, and as early as the first quarter of 1983, things began to fall apart, politically and socially, for the JLP. It was not long after the Grenada Invasion that the downward political spiral started — it was a powerful signal that “the centre could no longer hold”.

It was evident that, by mid-1983, support for the JLP had begun to wane, while support for the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) started to re-emerge all across Jamaica. By the end of 1986, Jamaica began to get a full dose of transformational leadership although it really did not start with Edward Seaga. In the Jamaican context, transformational leadership, started in earnest with pre-1944 efforts, led in great part by Norman Manley and the PNP, to achieve Universal Adult Suffrage. It accelerated with the thrust towards self-government and political independence. While some would prefer to ignore the power of the transformational leadership that Michael Manley provided during the 1970s toward social advancement, it is a fact Michael Manley provided such leadership.

In terms of economic change, Edward Seaga (1980-1989) provided a rare kind of transformational (change) leadership. Evidence of his leadership and good stewardship of this country lies not in the many institutions he created. The greatest indication of his transformational leadership is in the recalibration of the Jamaican mindset to think outside the box. Further evidence of his transformational leadership is intertwined in his efforts to push us to adjust the circumference of our collective ambitions toward achieving our rightful place by applying creativity, innovation, hard work, integrity, and enterprise. Nevertheless, and as Seaga, himself would probably admit, economic transformation is tough business, and it is made that much tougher in an environment where the pillars of the economic transformation are inherently weak, especially when people’s focus is attuned to social justice and entitlement rather than to economic reforms and economic independence.

The arrival of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988 assisted neither the Government’s economic recovery programme nor the country. The economic recovery programme suffered a mighty blow (no pun intended), the likes of which had never before emerged from the bowels of the West African coast. Alas, the most powerful hurricane struck Jamaica so hard that it caused Prime Minister Seaga to describe Jamaica as “looking like Hiroshima after the atom bomb”. Hurricane Gilbert left US$4 billion in damage from destroyed crops, buildings, houses, roads, small aircraft, and suspension in economic and productive activities. Gilbert was the tipping point.

By the time the elections were held in 1989, the JLP had lost so much support that not even the renowned revivalist Kapo could have helped. The JLP lost in February 1989 and the PNP regained State power. It was no economic honeymoon for the PNP, but the people trusted Manley more to lead then out of the “economic Egypt” and into the Promised Land.

Contrary to Senator Cow Head’s theory on political ungratefulness, the JLP did not lose because Jamaicans behaved like “the children of Israel” in their rebellion against Moses and Aaron. The JLP lost because the people also lost confidence and grew excessively impatient with the Government’s inability to deliver substantially to them. In fairness, the Seaga-led JLP Government did excellently in facilitating the economic environment for job creation and economic growth. Thousands of 807 Garment Manufacturing jobs were created, alongside jobs in construction, agro-industry, tourism, etc. For, while there were many low-wage “free zone” type jobs, high-paying jobs were few; most of the public sector workers who were made redundant under the JLP economic structural adjustment programme could not find employment. The JLP did a lot of things right during the 1980s, but the people disliked them.

In a strange twist of fate, the Portia Simpson Miller-led PNP Government is in the same place where Seaga was in pre-Hurricane Gilbert days. Whatever the arguments are about what was (or was not) inherited in 2012, the facts are irrefutable. Neither the economy nor the country’s reputation was in good shape or standing. It matters not that our individual political orientation and biases may induce us to deny or distort the true state of things, the current Government has done a remarkable job repairing the economy and restoring our reputation in the international community. Economically, things have improved, but the recovery remains fragile and economic growth has been quite feeble. It is to the eternal credit of the Jamaican people that social and industrial unrest is not more prevalent or widespread. To answer a part of the question: Has this PNP Government done anything right? One would have to answer in the affirmative, but then ask, compared to what?

The greatest disconnect in the current circumstances surrounds the Government’s bloated arrogance, lack of communication, non-existent programme of engagement and outreach, barefaced reactionary approach to problem-solving, and blatant lack of urgency in dealing with the people’s concerns and problems. On those fundamental “people” issues, the PNP is found wanting.

Nevertheless, the Government has been doing a few things right. Passing the quarterly International Monetary Fund (IMF) tests is one of the “right things”. Passing these IMF tests, maintaining the primary surplus target, reducing the national debt by 20 percentage points of gross domestic product are good things for creating the economic environment for growth to occur. Reducing interest rates, reducing the current account deficit, achieving a more competitively valued dollar (although devaluation has the greatest impact on the poor outside of direct taxation), improving the balance of trade, bringing form to the financial sector, and reducing the food import bill are good things.

Now that “roll call” is about to happen, the chickens have come home to roost because these economic accomplishments, by themselves, are not sufficient to convince the thousands of unemployed Jamaican youth that continuing on the present economic journey will yield good results when they are not feeling any of the “positive progress” so far. Now that “roll call” is about to happen, the Government is not only facing its own music of “lack of communication”, unshared vision, arrogance and foolish invincibility, it also has to begin to dance to the music and rhythm of its own intransigence.

Judging by the current mood of the electorate, little tolerance exists for the Government to “slip-slide” its way through the morass of foolish recalcitrance it has planted for itself. The Government will have to dig deep to find sufficient hope to sell to the people or prepare itself for a rebellion.

Burnscg@aol.com