Olive Nelson | Does Bunting have stomach for election fight?

“Who has the better chance of beating Andrew Holness?” According to the Rise United full-page advertisement appearing in The Sunday Gleaner of September 1, 2019, a recently conducted Don Anderson poll has indicated that it is Peter Bunting who is more than twice as likely as Peter Phillips to do so – 36 per cent against 16 per cent. This is, of course, consistent with the view being pushed by his political cronies who cannot bear the thought of being in opposition.

That so many of them are willing to cast their lot with the younger Peter merely on the basis of his age (and perhaps his moneymaking credentials) betrays the level of their desperation. What new vision is he voicing for the party and the country? As a potentially influential Cabinet minister of many years, what transformational idea has he been able to sell to the party?

It is all clearly about the optics – how he squares off against a younger JLP leader – and not about any star leadership quality he is expected to bring to the highly sought – after position of prime minister-in-waiting.

Come D-Day on September 7, Mr Bunting may indeed prove himself the winner over Dr Philips, but to what end? Any win secured on that day by him can only be a pyrrhic victory. Not only will he rise with a divided PNP, he will most certainly prove himself a loser in the real test – the general election constitutionally due 2021, but expected to follow closely, in 2020, on completion of the Corporate Area and Mandela roadworks.

Against such glaring evidence of infrastructural ‘prosperity’ and in the absence of some catastrophic eventuality, the PNP will not stand a chance against the JLP, be it led by Peter Phillips or Peter Bunting. There is much campaign ammunition all round – high levels of corruption, incongruence between government pronouncements and actions, continuation of a relentlessly high murder rate – but these are not matters that normally detain the voting public. It is what it has come to expect and accept. Remaining pockets of resistance (aka democracy) are being steadily worn thin by monetary inducements of all sizes. The continuation of a single-term political cycle is definitely not on the cards at this time.

THE REAL PRIZE

A winning Bunting will, therefore, have to wait another five to six years before any hope of claiming the real prize – the prime ministership. During that time, he will face the daunting task of rebuilding the party. Does he have the stomach or tenacity for it?

Furthermore, politicians in this country do not have a good record of winning elections immediately after having party leadership handed to them. Hugh Shearer did not, after succeeding Donald Sangster in 1967. Andrew Holness did not, after succeeding Bruce Golding in 2010, and Portia Simpson Miller had to wheel and come again, in 2011, after losing the 2007 polls shortly after receiving the baton from P.J. Patterson. It may, therefore, be 2025 before Bunting gets a real chance to reach for the crown.

His leadership challenge at this time exposes his poor judgement. Incumbent party leader Dr Peter Phillips recently disclosed on public radio (in an interview with Nationwide’s Miss Kitty) that nobody would have to tell him what to do should the PNP and lose the next general election under his leadership.

In just one year, Mr Bunting could get an opportunity to mount a more respectable challenge, vying with the other hopefuls, had he not had his ambitions so decisively fixed on instant gratification.

Now what will he do if he loses the race on Saturday? Having orchestrated the ruin of what is left of the PNP, perhaps he could go off to form an NDM-type third party – the Risen United Party. Not to worry. As some wise person has said, “Monkey mus know weh him gwine put him tail before him order pants.”

But how does that advance the national interest?

Olive Nelson is a chartered accountant. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.