Dear Editor,

I have taken notice of a few commentators who have been trying desperately to get Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s name linked with the so-called scandals that has emerged in the Government. Some has gone as far as claiming his brand has been damaged with the young people who have invested in him the hope of changing their lives.

Really? I do wonder what sort of green bush they have been smoking. Nobody in Jamaica can, with any good conscience, accuse Holness as being corrupt. He cannot be linked to any underhand dealings. He cannot be considered to have benefited from any corrupt undertaking. So why would brand Andrew Holness be tainted?

There is a flawed logic, glibly spouted by some, that if an Administration struggles with corruption that somehow makes the leader corrupt. That’s asinine! If that were so, P J Patterson would be the most corrupt leader to ever set foot in Jamaica House with the number of scandals while he was in charge of the Government. I have never heard anybody accuse Patterson of being personally corrupt.

What many people do not understand is the enduring popularity of the man born out of good marketing by his handlers, for one, but most importantly, people naturally love him. Very few politicians can lay claim to that fact.

Andrew Holness connects with just about everybody. Even with the so-called corruption problems every poll shows him to be, by far, the most popular politician in the entire country. His approval rating is huge, and that goes right across the education, economics, and age divides.

Brand Andrew is like Brand Jamaica. Brand Jamaica endures the test of time, even when under Peter Phillips as national security minister we were “the murder capital of the world”; it remained strong through everything. So, too, is brand Andrew.

Many of the older folks who, with their presumptuous selves, think they know what young people want and how they think, are way off. And, in that vein, they seek to impose their thoughts about a given situation. That’s one reason we have failed, as a country, to deal with youth issues. In years gone, too many people who made policies for young people had absolutely no idea what they wanted.

Andrew Holness, in 2016, represented the hopes and dreams of young people like me and, four years later, I am even more convinced he does still. What brand Holness represents to young people is akin to what Brand Jamaica represents to the world.

With young people he isn’t just another politician; he is the Honourable Brogad.

Fabian Lewis

tyronelewis272@gmail.com