BELIEVE THEM when they say…
In the midst of the kissing of babies and the speaking of kind words to old ladies, it is imperative that Jamaicans listen, not just hear, what is really being said on the political stump by all who seek high and low political office. This is especially crucial as we draw closer to the holding of our 19th parliamentary election.
Apart from voice amplification, it seems whenever a microphone is put in the hands of a politician it seems to cause him/her to behave in interesting, sometimes peculiar and often very revealing ways. Whether scripted, unscripted, gaffes, or precision, Jamaicans need to listen keenly to the remarks made on the hustings and elsewhere, especially in the coming months.
We are in the season in which, fortunately, we often get great insights into the recesses of the minds of those who are leading and/or those who seek to lead us. Some may disagree with me, but I believe gaffes are private thoughts revealed publicly. Many famous — and some not so famous — politicians, who committed egregious gaffes have paid dearly.
In 2010 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s campaign was not going well. “But he had no idea how much worse it was going to get when he stopped to chat with a voter in Rochdale, England, a week before the election. Gillian Duffy, a 66-year-old pensioner, proceeded to berate Brown, explaining why — despite having backed his Labour Party all her life — she was now ashamed to admit her political allegiance. Brown kept up a polite conversation with her as the TV cameras looked on, then drove away unaware his microphone was still on. Once inside the car, he complained to advisers: ‘That was a disaster. They should never have put me with that woman… Ridiculous… bigoted woman.’ Brown later apologised but went on to lose the election.” (CCN, May 11, 2016)
Locally, recall this banner headline: ‘Four months, 18 babies dead and the health minister in the dark’. (
The Gleaner, October 20, 2015) The news item said, among other things: “It appears that for four months the Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson was kept in the dark by his technocrats about a bacterial outbreak at two of the island’s major hospitals that resulted in the deaths of 18 newborn babies.” Remember that while Dr Ferguson — as part of the Portia Simpson Miller Administration of 2012 to 2016 — was being peppered with questions and criticisms related to the ‘dead babies scandal’ in Parliament, he remarked that the infants who had died were not babies in the real sense. He tried hard to walk back his shocking and insensitive utterance, but had little success.
Remember minister with responsibility for information, Senator Sandrea Falconer, told journalists that based on discussions with Dr Ferguson, the comment was a “slip of the tongue”. Her comments effectively added fuel to an already blazing fire. By then it was evident, except to the politically blind, that Dr Ferguson’s sojourn as health minister had become unsalvageable.
Hark back to July 2020, Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck said, among other things, in Parliament: “We don’t want a situation that now happens in the Me Too Movement in the US, where 30 years later you talk about ‘I was harassed in the elevator.’ No. If you don’t complain within 12 months, please, cut it out.” Chuck was pilloried and his suitability to serve as a minister of Government was questioned by some, in spite of his several attempts to clarify and later apologise.
INNER CONSCIOUSNESS SPEAKING
I believe we must rigorously apply Maya Angelou’s benchmark to people’s words and actions. She famously warned: “When people show you who they are believe them the first time.”
Human beings are fallible. We should try and forgive each other, as is practicable. I say practicable because, I think, it is near impossible to totally forgive or dismiss from ones inner consciousness certain types of experiences.
Renowned American writer, reporter, and political commentator Walter Lippmann, in his celebrated book Public Opinion, posited that: “Reality in the human mind is formed from pictures [experiences, my input] over time.”
Every experience must make us wiser. As regard political decision-making, one sure way of reducing buyer’s remorse is to listen keenly to what is said on the hustings. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a specific reason, my late grandfather often warned.
I have been listening, and for that and related reasons I have been able to make forecasts here over the years which have turned out to be spot-on. More forecasts are now near oven-ready.
Anyway, in my final The Agenda piece for 2024 I said that the People’s National Party (PNP) would have hit the campaign trail afresh, the very first working day of 2025. They did. It was not rocket science. Golding has been on the campaign trail now for almost three full years.
At a recent constituency meeting in St Andrew East Rural, Mark Golding said, among other things: “The tax revenues in the country are down this year. When we form Government, we are not going into a nice buoyant situation. We are going into a situation where the Labour Party has dropped the ball and the economy is weak and is just struggling along, but we understand what it takes to build a strong economy, so our people can be wealthy, our people can reach their hopes and dreams.”
Here is an irrefutable fact. No PNP Administration has ever grown Jamaica’s economy in a meaningful way. Since political independence in 1962 our economy meaningfully grew in the 1960s and mid-1980s. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was at Jamaica House on both occasions. Those who have the knowledge have a duty to warn and correct.
Here is another incontrovertible fact: Contrary to Golding’s sky is falling appetite, several noted financial experts, including Keenan Falconer, senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Dr Christine Clarke; financial analysts, notably, John Jackson and Dennis Chung, have said they expect the local economy to recover later this year from the shocks occasioned by Hurricane Beryl which landed on our shores on July 4, 2024. The massive devastation of Beryl was not 7 years ago; it was just 7 months ago. Anyway, I have much more confidence in the forecasts of the mentioned experts as compare to Golding’s.
In the mentioned comments, Golding seems also to locate an umbilical nexus between taxation and economic buoyancy. Why? I know the answer. You see, the forte of socialist parties is not economic growth; it is borrowing, tax, and spend and the suicidal redistribution of resources minus prior production. Should Golding’s mentioned comments be treated as a warning of a return to the bad old days of merciless taxation if the PNP were to get back the keys to Jamaica House? Absolutely!
PUSS OUT OF THE BAG
Two Sundays ago, I pointed out here that the British Labour Party (BLP), in the run-up to the general election in the United Kingdom, held on July 4 last year, made a trailer-load of promises. The BLP is a fraternal party of the PNP. I noted that, by and large, what the Brits have got to date is a trailer-load of tax increases; some 40 billion pounds so far, and a mountain of excuses for failure to deliver. Millions have signed an e-petition calling for a fresh general election in Britain. Socialist parties are all the same, whether they are in temperate or tropical climes. We at home “must tek sleep and mark death”.
Was this revelation/declaration, for example, a mere slip of the tongue or a veritable gushing onto the public pavement of the deep recesses of the PNP’s mind? Recall: “Opposition spokesman on education, Senator Damion Crawford, while speaking at the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools conference in Trelawny, stated that a one per cent increase in General Consumption Tax (GCT) would generate additional funds for the education sector.” (Jamaica Observer, June 12, 2024)
Recall the PNP quickly put out a statement that distanced itself from the comments Crawford made, stating that they “were not a reflection of the official position of the PNP” but “were made in the context of exploring different ideas” to fund education… They said, “It is important to state unequivocally that the PNP has neither discussed nor contemplated the introduction of any additional or new taxes.” (Jamaica Observer, June 12, 2024)
Did Crawford, who is known for being loquacious, go off on a frolic of his own? Or did he let the proverbial puss out of the bag? I think the latter.
Consider this: “PNP plans to impose tax on imported foods to create fund for agriculture sector.” The
RJR news item said, among other things: “The People’s National Party says it plans to impose a tax on imported foods to create a dedicated pool of funding that will help to develop the local agriculture sector when it forms the next Government.
“Opposition spokesman on agriculture Dr Dayton Campbell explains that this tax will be similar to the levy imposed on incoming international calls used to create the Universal Service Fund, which has established Wi-Fi hotspots around the country, among other things.
“Addressing party faithful at a political meeting Tuesday night in Southfield, south-east St Elizabeth, Dr Campbell said a dedicated pool of funding for the agriculture sector will help to modernise farming practices to bolster production.”
Did Dr Campbell, who is known for being mouthy, go off on a frolic of his own? Or did he let the proverbial puss out of the bag? I think the latter.
For the last eight years the governing JLP has not put a burden of new taxes on the people of this country. A majority of Jamaicans have now come to see “no new taxes”, as a staple. All well-thinking Jamaicans must be extremely concerned at recent utterances about new taxes from PNP spokespersons.
Years ago I use to dread the budget speech presentations from the minister of finance. Back then, thousands of Jamaicans felt chastised due to those very traumatic budget presentations.
POLITICAL FLOGGINGS
On the matter of chastisement, Crawford was severely scolded for his talk about new taxes. Dr Campbell was also reprimanded by his leader. On several occasions Golding has said: “The party does not see a need for new taxes at this time.” Does “at this time” literally mean at the time of speaking?
Something is just not right at 89 Old Hope Road.
If the PNP cannot coordinate its position on taxes when in Opposition, what should we expect if it formed a future Administration?
Dr Campbell recently talked of plans to cease the importation of onions and Irish potatoes within two years should the PNP form the next Government. But, Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green said doing so without addressing production targets or capacity is reckless. Green suggested that the suggestion from his opposite number to impose taxes on imported foods is ill-advised and harmful. He further said Dr Campbell’s suggestion would jeopardise farmers and consumers. I agree. Has Dr Campbell also read the trade agreements Jamaica has signed?
FIRM FOUNDATION
Notwithstanding the giant setbacks caused by Hurricane Beryl, our economy needs to meaningful grow in the coming months. Without economic growth there are fewer tax receipts. There are poorer public services and lower and/or stunted remuneration for, especially, public sector workers, plus higher, much higher taxes for everyone. Lack of economic growth means greater hardships and reduction in the standards of living for everyone.
Luckily, Jamaica now has a firm foundation in place to facilitate meaningful economic growth. We have record low inflation, the lowest unemployment since records have been kept, a stable dollar, the highest ever net international reserves, (NIR), absence of debilitating capital flight, positive international credit ratings, increasing expenditure on big capital projects, and I could go on. This very firm foundation could be destroyed if placed in the wrong hands.
Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.
FERGUSON… not babies in the real sense.
CHUCK…we don’t want a situation that now happens in the Me Too Movement in the US.
People’s National Party President Mark Golding
CAMPBELL… proposed a tax on imported foods to create a dedicated pool of funding that will help to develop the local agriculture sector
CRAWFORD… a one per cent increase in General Consumption Tax (GCT) would generate additional funds for the education sector (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
Garfield Higgins