Gordon Robinson | (Governance) upgrade demanded!

So, with campaign temperatures higher than the summer heat wave, The Old Ball and Chain is having political hot flashes.

Old BC: Sigh. Old Grey Balls thinks he’s sooooo cute. But this unbearable heat requires intelligent distraction and politicians are falling short in both categories. As usual both Parties continue to speak without really saying anything. Dayton Campbell complained bitterly that Government, despite promising to implement a fixed election date ten years ago, used its power to manipulate the election date. PNP, in its manifesto, says it will CONSIDER implementing a fixed election date. What’s to consider?

Old GB: Well, I’ve some bad news for you. You have ten more days of silly sandbox scraps like who can spell better or who cares more for us to suffer. In these political campaigns, POLICY is avoided like the bubonic plague. Petty puerile pretentiousness is the order of the day. I can’t wait for September 4 when we start to realize it was all for naught and, regardless of the result, NOTHING has changed.

Old BC: Stick to the subject. You sound like a politician. Or, worse, a lawyer! I’m sure I heard Dayton say, in a radio interview, that the people of Jamaica want a fixed election date. If that’s so, why does PNP need to consult the people? As usual no politician commits to anything. Or, if they commit prior to election, they forget about the commitment after election. What’s different between that and what JLP did? Isn’t that the same?

Old GB: No. Pre-election, JLP promised fixed election dates would be in place within 100 days of winning the 2016 General Election. It also said we would sleep with our windows and doors open. When they were challenged years later JLP said it wasn’t a promise but an aspiration. Then they waffled about the difference between a “promise” and a “commitment”. Remember a famous senior JLP cabinet minister, under oath, sought to make a difference between “I don’t recall” and “I don’t remember” in response to an obviously tongue-in-cheek question from the great K.D. Knight. So, like two recent taped voice notes, there’s a difference. PNP is still at the “promise” stage. JLP has long travelled beyond the “promise broken” stage.

Old BC: It’s true JLP made many promises which haven’t been fulfilled. And don’t get me started on the pretence that they have dealt with the constitution. It’s simply disgraceful. Glossy TV advertisements by the responsible Ministry trumpeting that “we are on the road to Republic” are disgusting wastes of taxpayers’ money. The road they have built goes nowhere near Republic status and the Ministry should know this.

Old GB: Now you have rummaged around in my bonnet and found the bee that’s constantly buzzing about in there. Abolishing the Monarch does NOT a Republic make! If we don’t devise a new governance system that, firstly, reduces Government’s ability to do as it likes; and, secondly, provides effective institutions to hold Governments accountable (Integrity Commission, as is, ain’t it) we’ll be changing Green to Orange then Orange to Green ’til thy Kingdom come without any change in our lived experience.

Old BC: ok. So these are the things PNP should be addressing in its political campaigns. Instead it’s focused on calling the Prime Minister names and spreading innuendo regarding his integrity compared to Mark’s when not one single formal charge has been laid against him by anyone. Before its Manifesto was released at the Pegasus with much pomp, ceremony and uptown ballyhoo, Senior PNP Officials said they didn’t want to release their Manifesto earlier because JLP would steal their ideas. How stupid does PNP think Jamaicans are???

Old GB: Well, as we write, JLP hasn’t released its Manifesto. Is it taking time to copy and paste from PNP’s?

Old BC: JLP released a booklet of its achievements on which it’s running for re-election. PM and other cabinet members took to the streets to deliver the booklets themselves and connect to the people in their daily lives. In response Damian tried to ridicule the Prime Minister by wiping windshields in Half Way Tree with his trousers hanging down below his underwear. Is THAT how we want our future leaders to behave? Is THAT the example we want our future Education Minister (and even Prime Minister since Damian himself says that’s in his future) to teach our youth to emulate even only as a political gimmick?

Old GB: All that’s happening here is Jamaican political campaigns are once again majoring in the minor to the point where they are now majoring in the irrelevant. NOBODY wants to address Jamaican people’s real needs which include being able to hold whatever Government is in place accountable. Now it’s a race to win “power” in a system that allows you to do as you like once you win more seats than your opponent. No restrictions; no accountability. The worst that can happen to you is you’re forced to take a temporary (like Floyd) or permanent (like Ruel) vacation from cabinet. As MP you control vast sums of taxpayers’ money (euphemistically called a “Constituency Development Fund”) where you can influence the handing out of contracts to friends and cronies without any constitutional authority to do so.

Old BC: And then they have the gall to tell you that if you don’t vote you can’t complain and you’re in fact causing Government non performance. What decision does my vote make? If I choose my MP, I only have a choice in who represents my constituency. I don’t get to choose who leads the Government; that guides Jamaica’s direction.

Old GB: Now you’re talking. The nonsense bruited about in media and elsewhere by allegedly educated persons who should know better is that, if you don’t vote, you allow a minority to choose your Government. What rubbish! A minority of 3,000 party delegates long ago chose the leader of your Government for a 3,000,000 population while we watch on TV. Then that leader, in his sole and absolute discretion, chooses a cabinet from about 40 other Jamaicans whose sole qualification is local popularity. Why won’t those telling me horse manure about the effect of me not voting lobby for, AT LEAST, every Jamaican on the voters’ list to be allowed a direct vote for PM? Why do they allow themselves to be permanently imprisoned by this British system created to protect the British Monarch? Why won’t they emancipate themselves from that mental slavery?

And those preferring an appointed Senate because they imagine it means higher intellect and expertise need only listen to some Senators. Proportional representation would combine selection and election and give non-traditional groups a voice. PNP’s proposal to include specific named groups in the Senate is constitutionally illiterate. PNP’s idea of appointing Diaspora Senators is nothing more than a genuflection to its Diaspora funding and support. It makes zero national or legislative sense. It’s pathetic pandering.

Old BC: It doesn’t suit either party to change the system and THAT’S WHY THERE WILL NEVER BE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION. Until our government is exposed as illegitimate (by being representative of a very small minority of the voting population) and, as a result, unable to access overseas support of any kind, politicians won’t be motivated to change the system and Constitution.

Old GB: Ok. So this is why we must continue to express our disdain for the governance system and our demand for accountability in Government by recognizing that a vote is express support FOR someone or something. The idea that we should support evil because it’s the lesser of two isn’t only unchristian it’s antithetical to nation building. If you can’t in all conscience actively support a candidate, then don’t.

Old BC: And one last thing (said Elsbeth). You must stop hiding my views away on Tuesdays when you and I know nobody reads the arcane gibberish that you write. This governance matter is too important so kindly submit it for a Sunday column.

Here’s where I pounce on her and win the argument!

Old GB: Yes dear.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send columns@gleanerjm.com