Dear Editor,

Scandals have hit the People’s National Party (PNP) again with what has happened in that fiasco with A J Nicholson, which seems like a mere sideshow now against accusations launched at General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell. With the fragile unity of the party tested again, after the start of it all with an abortive attempt to oust former President Peter Phillips, a devastating election defeat, and another presidential election, everything has set the party at odds.

Sure, there were and are controversies and scandals in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration, but for now I’m looking on the PNP.

While many people are laughing at the PNP, and while I am not a supporter, I see it as a serious cause for concern. I may not like the PNP or JLP at all, but I want the PNP to quickly rebound from whatever existential crisis it has, so that it can remain a counterbalance to the JLP.

I may find both sides distasteful, but my dislike for both sides pales in comparison to the hatred I have for any one-sided governance and political monopoly, no matter if they are green or orange, especially in a nation that does not have any proper checks and balances to make politicians accountable.

In the US, people may be disappointed that Donald Trump was impeached and acquitted twice, but at least they have an impeachment procedure. We don’t even have a recall proceeding for politicians that are corrupt or when they act in an indecent manner.

And civil society is mainly composed of the middle and upper class, while special interests to try make politicians accountable; they alone cannot serve as the final check and balance to their power. Poorer people seldom involve themselves in ‘civil society’ for lower education levels and partisanship limits their contributions to it.

Until we have an educated society in which everyone involves themselves in civil society, with proper policies for checks, balances and the like, the PNP should rebound and regain their position as the “ying and yang” of the political process in Gordon House with the JLP. Otherwise, the corruption scandals of yesterday may pale in comparison to the debauchery of tomorrow.

Marcus White

whitemarc918@gmail.com