There are realities of political gravity which must never be ignored. One: The party which forms the Administration starts to lose the day it wins power. Two: The privilege of political office typically starts with cheers and ends in jeers. It’s like life — happy at the start, but we begin to die the day we are born.

In participatory democracies the slide down the greasy pole of political power is inevitable. Those who pretend otherwise are living in la-la land. Here is a bit of mirth related to la-la land. A while back I used the expression la-la land in a column and a reader asked, “Where exactly is that place?” I jokingly said, “Think in the vein of Alice in Wonderland.” Seriously, though, the pace at which a political party that forms the Administration loses power is usually determined by the quality and quantity of its track record of delivery, but, most centrally, its present and likely/future ability to deliver.

Among other things, I said here three Sundays ago: “This Holness Administration needs to take great care that it does not fall into the political sinkhole that the PNP is now trapped. Some years ago I said here that voters were concerned with: ‘What have you done for me lately, and what can you do for me soon?’ The era of people sacrificing themselves, their careers, for political leaders, and/or their party, on the altar of political ideology are dead. It is a very different world, today.”

As I discussed here previously, there is an inevitable and natural reality of decrease, decline, attrition, and staleness related to forming the Administration for three-consecutive terms. A fourth-consecutive term is very rare in a participatory democracy. Results, therefore, have to be especially meaningful and sustained particularly during the third bite of the political cherry.

This is a very tall order. Why? The longer a political party holds the reins of power the more difficult the delivery of meaningful and sustained results become. In nature there is a cycle which favours novelty. A similar sequence typically operates in party politics. I say typically because a factor like the racial make-up/balance, etc of a population in a democracy can play a big role in determining which/whether a party stands a greater/lesser chance of surmounting political hurdles that make a third and fourth term very rare.

Gulliver-like restraints

One of the biggest mistakes administrations make in a third term is they become bogged-down by restraints like Lemuel Gulliver. Recall Jonathan Swift’s classic Gulliver’s Travels. This celebrated satire by Swift follows a ship’s surgeon Lemuel Gulliver’s voyages to fantastical lands, each serving as a satirical critique of British society. Gulliver’s travels include the land of Lilliput, where he is tied up by people who are less than 6 inches tall. He is then taken to the capital city and eventually released. The Lilliputians’ small size mirrors their small-mindedness. They indulge in ridiculous customs and petty debates. Sounds familiar?

Gulliver then goes to Brobdingnag, a land of giants, which highlight human pettiness and absurdity through contrasting scales. He also visits Laputa, a flying island inhabited by impractical scholars, and the land of the Houyhnhnms — clever horses that disdain the human-like Yahoos; ultimately leading Gulliver to question the nature of humanity. In gist,
Gulliver’s Travels mocks English mores, sterile politics, and the debilitating results on people’s lives.

The primary function of an Administration in a Western liberal-type democracy is the social/material advancements of especially ordinary people in a sustained manner. Here at home, this primary function is essentially pressed together in the duties of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness. His duties are two-fold. First and foremost, our prime minister has a non-negotiable duty to defend Jamaica’s interests at home and aboard. Second he has a sacrosanct duty to do all that is humanly possible to improve the condition of Jamaicans.

People elect a Government to get things done in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Individual benefits are crucial to the preservation of a social contract. In return for the certain and consistent satisfying of, especially, individual’s immediate and aspirational needs, citizens entrust confidence in a Government. This adhesive of confidence glues society together.

When an Administration is bound by the ropes of the Lilliputians it loses internal sovereignty. It then loses agency. Then it starts to lose the confidence of the people who voted it into power. The slide down the greasy political pole then massively accelerates.

Already, I am seeing concrete signs that this Holness-led Administration is allowing itself to be tied down by the Lilliputians among us. Some are well-heeled, some well-credentialled, and some wear shiny robes.

Five Sundays ago I said, among other things, here: “Professor Carl Stone told us a long time ago that the JLP [Jamaica Labour Party] was better at governance while the PNP [People’s National Party] was better at politics. As I see it, governance is the strong suit of many conservative-leaning parties globally, while politics is the forte of socialist-type parties. The latter relies very heavily on appeals to the emotion and oftentimes the historical prejudices of people, while the former reaches out more centrally to the aspirational needs and the rational thinking processes of individuals. The JLP today still suffers from a consequential imbalance between its strength in good governance and its weakness in the administration of politics. This weakness needs to be quickly relegated, and eventually sidelined.”

It bears repeating that unless this huge hindrance is attended to with urgency by this Administration it will not last beyond three years in office, I forecast.

Why the JLP won, again

On the matter of who holds the keys to Jamaica House, recall that recently I discussed here why the Mark Golding-led People’s National Party (PNP) lost its third-consecutive general election. Here is my reasoning on why the Andrew Holness-led JLP won its third-straight general election.

There are three primary reasons, I believe: On October 6, 2024 I said, among other things, here: “The Andrew Holness-led JLP will win the upcoming general election, our 19th since universal adult suffrage in 1944, except there is a calamitous scandal in the JLP and/or catastrophic natural disaster which doesn’t allow the JLP enough time to recover and/or rebuild. Why? The governing JLP, among other things, has been caught trying.”

The governing JLP was caught genuinely trying to solve Jamaica’s long-standing problems of high crime, in particular murders; crippling unemployment; debilitating inflation; choking debt; rickety physical infrastructure, in particular bad roads; national underachievement in education; decaying social infrastructure; few and far between investments in critical public amenities like housing, water, public transportation, national security infrastructure; frail protection of the vulnerable; and feeble investments in compassionate and human rights safeguards, etc. I believe when Jamaicans say he/she/the Government, etc, is trying, this is a big positive.

Bill Clinton, two-term president of the United States of America, often said: “The American people don’t always need you to succeed, but they want to catch you trying.” I believe the same is true of the Jamaican people.

Second, Prime Minister Holness led a strategically smart ground and grounded campaign. And he did so from the front. Local issues were the centrepiece of the JLP’s campaign. Sir Alexander Bustamante’s party adopted a kind of Churchillian political posture throughout the campaign. It was not dissimilar to the organisational approach used in the the general election of February 2016 and local government election of November 2016.

One of Andrew Holness’s major pluses as JLP leader is that he has reinvigorated and revitalised the 1960s/80s sleeping giant of the JLP’s winning mentality.

Third is the rock star appeal of Holness, especially among female voters. The youthfulness of Holness, matched against the oldster-looking image of Mark Golding, is a big deal. Golding will be 65 when the next general election is due in 2030. Holness will be 58. Those who hanker to replace Golding, doubtless, are mulling that reality constantly in their active minds as they prepare to challenge him. That challenge will happen in 2026/7, I believe.

Anyway, Holness had a decided advantage among female voters. Why? His real and/or perceived vitality, vigour, and virility are important political capital, especially to the female species. Perception is reality in politics, someone said. The fact is humans are not very different from animals in the wild. Animals operate on instinct. In the wild the fittest males mate the most. Videos of Holness training at the Mona Reservoir, early mornings, and his creditable participation and placements in several runs and walks demonstrated good mental and physical fitness. Holness’s show of fitness won votes. Humans are humans. For this reason politicians often blatantly lie about their mental/medical state.

Un-ignorable realities

The physical and mental condition of a political leader only helps; however, what rules is if he/she has a record of delivering, and/or has convinced voters, male and female, that he/she can be trusted to deliver goods and services which will socially and materially improve the lives of especially the majority of ordinary people in a sustained way. The PNP failed in these departments in our 19th general election.

Holness and the JLP have been given the privilege of a third-consecutive stint at Jamaica House so that modernisation of Jamaica’s roads, water, social institutions, courts, housing, environmental and human rights, protection, etc can continue along the especially positive trajectory of the last nine years.

A majority voted for Holness and the JLP so that the creditable reductions in crime, in particular murders, can continue. At present, there is a 41 per cent decline in murders this year compared to the similar period in 2024. A majority also voted for Holness and the JLP to preserve the present macroeconomic buoyancy, which includes notable debt repayment. Jamaica is a model of recovery.

National Hero Norman Manley said his generations’ role was to achieve political independence and another was to achieve economic independence. As I said here four Sundays ago, “This Holness Administration would do well to understand that the admittedly splendid macroeconomic song which has been a mega hit in the last nine years has started to fall off the hit charts as far as many ordinary Jamaicans are concerned. This new Holness Administration urgently needs a new mega hit song. The lyrics must centre on tangible and sustained economic growth of at minimum 3 per cent. It must register in the pockets and must be visible on the dinner tables of thousands more, especially ordinary Jamaicans.” These are realities.

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has estimated growth of between 3 per cent and 4 per cent in the September 2025 quarter. This is good news. Recently, Jamaica’s credit rating was upgraded to “BB” by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings. Listen, if these and other macroeconomic advances do not impact the pockets and are visible on the dinner tables of thousands more Jamaicans they are but “sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal”

Implementation is where it’s at

On the matter of real substance, consider this too: “Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has advised that a report on social violence has been produced by developmental and behavioural paediatrician, Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughan.

“The report is in the possession of the Government now. We will bring it to Cabinet shortly and once Cabinet has reviewed it then it will be tabled in Parliament,” the prime minister said.

He was addressing a special post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, May 29, at Jamaica House. He explained that as the Government works to reduce the murder rate and organised violence, social violence will become the centre of focus and activity. (Jamaica Information Service [JIS], May 30, 2025)

What’s happening with the implementation of the recommendations? The country needs to know.

Jamaica Labour Party Leader Dr Andrew Holness participates in the national debates in the lead-up to the September 3, 2025 General Election. (Photo: Collin Reid)

Dr Andrew Holness makes his inaugural speech after having been sworn in as prime minister recently at King’s House. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.