The Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) communication guru and avid fan of Dr Andrew Michael Holness, Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, has opined that his third-term “Brogad” won the 2025 General Election because of the love that the Jamaican people have for him.

This was evidenced during the election campaign as especially women and children went “ga-ga” over him, occasions which the JLP leader relished, and with good reason. After all, empirically, it has been argued that any political leader that children and women prefer and adore tends to be the one that enters the winner’s circle.

So now that Brogad has found love, what will he do with it?

On election night at Belmont Road, while he held the symbolic JLP bell, surrounded by jubilant Labourites, Dr Holness sometimes came across as bitter and even vexed, declaring that, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper!” His verbiage was in line with various utterances coming from the JLP which bemoaned the fact that the People’s National Party (PNP) spent most of its time on the campaign trail vilifying him, painting him as corrupt and uncaring.

Well, from all indications, the majority of voters did not buy into that argument, so it behoves Brogad to be more gracious in victory and extend a hand of commiseration to his foes, as, despite the seemingly invidious JLP slogan ‘Choose Jamaica’, Comrades who voted against him as well as the almost 60 per cent who did not vote are indeed “born ya” Jamaicans with their certificates, and when all is said and done, after he is sworn in next Tuesday by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, he will have become prime minister of all Jamaica, not just Labourites.

In this vein, one hopes that he will use this historic occasion (being sworn in for the fourth time to boot) to set the stage for national unity, all the while offering an olive branch to the Opposition PNP, because, in the very final analysis, it will have to be co-existence or no existence. Dr Holness must ensure that he does not throw out the baby with bath water by seeking to divide and rule rather than working towards national consensus amidst the expected dissensions. Already, there is talk about going for a fourth term, as if governing a country is just a game of one-upmanship.

My humble advice to the victorious and seemingly invincible Brogad is to now focus on what he will want his legacy to be. In other words, what will generations of Jamaicans to come remember him most for? And it cannot be just the ability or capacity to win elections. For starters, Vision 2030 looms large on the horizon, and he must seek to be the architect-in-chief if dog is not to “nyam our supper”.

So after receiving the instrument of office, which will, among other things, make him the first among equals, he must set about to govern, not rule (yes, there is a subtle difference). Luckily for Jamaica’s democracy’s sake, the 35/28 outcome of the 2025 General Election will have set the stage for the bicameral Parliament to ensure checks and balances that will effectively deter any tendency to become autocratic or overly partisan in the execution of his prime ministerial functions and duties.

The stage is set for the JLP leader to take Jamaica in a direction that will bring to past all the dreams and aspirations embodied in Vision 2030, but he must first be transformational, compassionate, visionary, consultative, honest, transparent, and accountable. In this vein, the sad truth is that many Jamaicans, many of whom voted for him, still harbour doubts about his financial affairs and he must exorcise that ghost once and for all from the body politic.

He must also bear in mind — given his love affair with the Jamaican people — the saying that “you can’t make love pon hungry belly” or the song that says “no romance without finance”. The reality on the ground is that many Jamaicans are yet to benefit from the promised prosperity. Bread-and-butter as well as kitchen-table issues still, for most, remain unresolved; the nation’s education system is for the most part a failed experiment; and productivity is still an elusive dream. Without a healthy, well-fed, educated, and productive workforce, Jamaica will continue to experience marginal economic growth while the fight for scarce benefits and spoils continues and intensifies every five years or so, after which it becomes business as usual.

Of course, one of his main legacy goals will be to lead this fledgling nation into becoming a full-fledged republic. This goal cannot be unilaterally achieved and it can’t be fulfilled by an “us-versus-them” approach. We are, after all, out of many, one people. So Brogad must choose between being a good politician who thinks primarily about his party and its fortunes or a good statesman who puts his country first. This will be a tightrope act for him to tackle, but he has no choice, so he must rise to the occasion lest his highly touted third term turns out to be nothing more than a wet squib.

And so I leave with you these words from the holy book, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude; it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

Best wishes, Prime Minister, in your third term. Now that you have the love of the Jamaican people, use it wisely, use it well. Selah.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 49 years. He has also served as a People’s National Party Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.

Abka Fitz-Henley

A Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporter celebrates the party’s general election victory by banging pot covers at the JLP’s Belmont Road headquarters. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

The 35/28 outcome of the 2025 General Election sets the stage for the Parliament to ensure checks and balances.l