Shocked and stunned into silence, that is what greeted us from the Hope Road headquarters of the People’s National Party (PNP) after the dust settled from Jamaica’s 17th General Election, last Thursday. They party had made a bet, placed the house on it, and lost.

The gambles that they made were attacking Andrew Holness’s house without all the facts and abandoning the national political debates.

Attacking Andrew Holness was always going to be sticky, but the view was that if he was attacked on his glaringly opulent house, he would lose his position as a man of the people.

Abandoning the debates was seemingly more calculated. It was thought that with Andrew being a much better public speaker than the PNP’s president, Portia Simpson Miller, and the media tellingly not bringing up the PNP’s many recent scandals, the wise move was to abandon the debates and take that flak, with the added bonus of lowering the voter turnout.

Well both gambles failed miserably or, as some say, completely backfired on them.

In the case of the house, while interesting questions were raised, they came with no proof/substance. Andrew played them well and showed political maturity that he has been lacking, even last year. He waited till the best possible time to answer the questions (a week till election) and, in turn, asked some harsh questions of the PNP and its minister of finance and campaign director, Peter Phillips. Instead of people abandoning Andrew, they called out the PNP’s ‘bad mind’. Still they tried to dig deeper into Andrew’s affairs by questioning the already detailed responses.

The debates, while an understandable gamble, was turned on its head and cost them a lot. While the people were turned off by the parties stance, and a lot more people than expected stayed home, those who did vote were so upset with the PNP that they voted against them en mass.

With both gambles now seen as epic failures, some deep introspection will be done by the PNP. Its general secretary, Paul Burke, may not have a party job for long after this debacle. I also believe that Peter Phillips can now kiss his chance of party leadership goodbye after overseeing such a shamble of a campaign. It won’t end there, however, as Portia Simpson Miller knows her days are numbered and that knives are sharpening.

The PNP’s internal election and the heads that will roll will make for some interesting viewing. The old guard is hanging on for dear life, and ‘Mr Youthful Exuberance’ seemingly wants it bad; however, the young turks will not sit idly by.

If the PNP does not play the game correctly, they may falter. All they have to do is ask the 1990s Jamaica Labour Party what infighting can do to one’s electability; in short, this parliamentary term will be one for the ages.