The results of the by-elections in St Andrew Southern, St Andrew South Western and St Mary South Eastern are now in. The two St Andrew constituencies were a foregone conclusion as the ‘garrisonisation’ of those constituencies guaranteed a win for the People’s National Party (PNP). Hardly any attention was paid by the public at large to those constituencies in the run-up to the elections.

There is nothing sexy about garrisonised outcomes. In the results are lessons learnt and lessons to be learnt. The results, especially in St Andrew South Western — dominated for almost four decades by the redoubtable Portia Simpson Miller — have shown that the iron grip of the PNP on that constituency has not loosened. Simpson Miller was fully vested in campaigning for her selected import into the constituency, Dr Angela Brown Burke, and they have prevailed against the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Despite Brown Burke’s win, it is clear that there are deep problems to be addressed in the constituency. The way in which she was imported into the constituency caused serious divisions which clearly have not been bridged. She has not had the time to cement loyalties in the constituency, and whatever support she garnered had more to do with the Portia effect than any real personal support for her by constituents. She will need great skill sets to win over the distraught. A dose of divine intervention should not be counted out. Here, Peter Bunting could offer some advice.

Partisans and less intellectually inclined individuals will rejoice at what they would describe the massive win by the PNP in the St Andrew constituencies. But those of us who are more concerned about the democratising and maturing of our politics would be more enthused if there had been a loosening of the grip of career politicians on the political process in those constituencies.

In what should have been a moment of profound sadness, the former leader in the constituency, Portia Simpson Miller, in a brief interview, challenged her opponents to win against the background of what she knows to be the solid garrison that she had carefully built and nurtured over the years. She knew that the results were guaranteed, having been a beneficiary of the minds she had placed in captivity over almost four decades as head of the constituency. What should have been a moment of profound regret over failed politics became a platform for hubris and exultation.

Furthermore, those who would like to see a dismantling of garrison politics would rejoice more if they saw the people enjoying a new freedom from the patronage and denudation of their humanity which are features of the diabolic garrison politics. People expect to be treated with dignity and respect and not measured by party stripes and colours.

Freedom from the tentacles of political patronage would allow people to celebrate what I have described as the new feistiness that seems to be emerging in people’s regard for political accountability from their governors. Here social media would play no mean part. It is an insult to the intelligence of people to maintain this kind of politics, yet many who benefit from it do not possess the moral rectitude and fortitude necessary to put a bulldozer through it. Indeed, they cannot see how much they are a part of the problem.

St Mary South Eastern was never as clear cut as its St Andrew counterparts. A real battle was engaged on both sides to win the hearts and minds of the constituents who voted. Charges of corruption against the governing JLP were howled from PNP platforms. The JLP was accused of influencing the elections by doing projects in the constituency. They rebutted that some of these projects were already contemplated. While this may be true, the elections, no doubt, hastened them through the pipeline.

As the Government of the day, there will never be a time when the ruling party will not yield to the temptation of using the resources of the State to buttress its advantages in elections, especially one as tight as that engaged in St Mary. The classic case of this, of course, was when Omar Davies refused to turn off the deficit spigot in one of the many elections won by the PNP and which he defended in his now infamous “run wid it” speech. We are still paying for that dereliction of duty which, in a more respectable jurisdiction, would have necessitated at least five years in prison.

In the kind of decadent politics we practise in Jamaica no amount of legislation or corruption agency can completely eliminate this scourge. But it can be contained, and people punished for its most egregious and obvious practices. What is clear is that when it comes to vote-buying and the flagrant use of State resources in elections, no political party can claim that it has clean hands and pure heart. It therefore sounded very hollow, platitudinous, insulting, and hypocritical to hear Leader of the Opposition Dr Peter Phillips lament and denounce the corrupt use of State resources in St Mary South Eastern. Over its long stint at the political crease, the PNP has proven itself to be very adept at the use of political patronage in elections. This knowledge should at least have tempered any desire on the part of Phillips and spokespersons in the party to mount a moral high horse to denounce others.

But it did not seem to matter. Such practices must end because they undermine our democracy as people are seen as mere pawns in vote-getting machines, and not as intelligible participants who can understand and debate the issues.

Now that the votes are in, one hopes that the constitutional matter of Jamaican citizens sitting in the ‘People’s House’ will be debated and settled for good. One hopes also that Dr Alexis, though he lost, will continue with the same alacrity in getting his Jamaican citizenship regularised. It would be a great disappointment if there should be any waning on this matter on his part.

Dr Phillips characterised especially the St Mary South Eastern election as a referendum on the Government. Now that his party lost handsomely, is he still of this disposition? Did he consider losing the seat a referendum on his own leadership of his party? To what shall he now pivot to save face?

One thing is certain is that politicians will put their spin on things. But we, the Jamaican people, have work to do. We have a crime monster to tame and an economy to grow. We have deep social divisions and inequities in our society to overcome and heal. The country is rotting in too many places. Politicians, like Nero, will fiddle while Rome burns. But those of us who care about Jamaica must contain and extinguish the fires, some of which are raging out of control.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest and social commentator. Send comments to the Observer or stead6655@aol.com.