Harry Douglas prime example of the grass-roots politician, says Phillips
The death of veteran politician Harry Douglas has all but closed the chapter on the grass-roots parliamentarian in Jamaica, according to Dr Peter Phillips, Douglas’s People’s National Party (PNP) colleague and friend of more than 50 years.
Douglas died at age 82 on January 11 at Andrews Memorial Hospital in St Andrew. His son, Dwayne Douglas, said his father had been ill for some time after suffering a minor heart attack and stroke.
Phillips told the Jamaica Observer that the former St Mary South Eastern Member of Parliament was a tireless campaigner for the PNP and an unapologetic disciple of Michael Manley, who served as Jamaica’s prime minister from 1972-80 and 1989-92.
“He was a very determined and fearless person, and he was absolutely loyal to the party and Comrade Manley, and to any cause he committed himself to. He was a very direct and plain-spoken person with a very deep love for the ordinary Jamaican trying to lift themselves up and seek a better life in the midst of social hardships which are typical of Jamaican society,” said Phillips.
Although he was born in Bellefield, St Mary, Douglas started his political career during the 1970s as councillor for the Rae Town Division in Kingston Central. He and Phillips were part of the PNP’s restructuring following its devastating loss to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the 1980 General Election.
Phillips said Douglas expressed his intention to represent the PNP in the 1989 General Election for St Mary South Eastern which was held by the JLP’s Alva Ross. The constituency had been a safe seat for the JLP since it was first contested in 1944.
The jocular Douglas defeated Ross by 843 votes to secure his seat in Parliament. He retained the seat in the 1997 and 2002 elections before losing to the JLP’s Tarn Peralto in 2007.
Shortly after that loss, Douglas resigned from representational politics but campaigned relentlessly for the PNP in local government and parliamentary by-elections.
His most noted accomplishment as a parliamentarian, Phillips noted, was building Annotto Bay High School in his constituency.
He added that Douglas was devoted to his parish.
“He is a prime example of the grass roots politician, a man of the people who devoted his life to serving the people, and in that sense represents the value of our politics to our people. I think if people looked at the example of a Harry Douglas more, they would see the real virtue of our political parties that persists,” Phillips said.
Douglas is survived by Venise, his wife of 43 years, four children, grand and great-grandchildren, one sister, and five brothers.
