Editorial | End street campaigning now

Persons worry that the September 3 polls could spell disaster for Jamaica due to the current surge in the highly contagious, sometimes fatal, COVID-19 virus.

Elections are constitutionally due by 2021, but it was widely anticipated that Jamaicans would be called to the polls this year. As he is wont to do, Prime Minister Andrew Holness played his usual game of teasing the country about when he would “call it”.

Despite the theatrics associated with announcing the date and campaigning, legitimate elections are necessary to help maintain trust and confidence in a government. There is no guarantee that the COVID-19 will dissipate by 2021. The fact that the election date was announced in Parliament instead of at a mass rally gave a signal that this would be a different kind of election.

The question on many people’s mind is whether Jamaica can safely hold elections, given the accelerated pace of transmissions, numbering dozens each day. Many cases have been attributed to activities over the Emancipendence holidays. Some folks argue that one consequence of the rebounding virus should be a postponement of elections to protect the population.

HELD UNDER PROTOCOLS

The fact is that many countries, including next-door neighbours Dominican Republic and CARICOM territories, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts-Nevis and Suriname, have held elections during the pandemic with success and seemed to have averted any major disaster. Research confirms that in many cases, elections were held under strict protocols, paying keen attention to public-health warnings. By and large, the parties avoided mass meetings, motorcades and mingling on the campaign trail. Persons wore masks and used sanitisers.

Here in Jamaica, it was distressing to see images of party supporters mingling on nomination day, many of them without masks, or wearing them on their chin, and displaying blatant disregard for social distancing. The political leadership is fully aware of its inability to rein in exuberant supporters who are fully extended in their lawlessness during campaign periods.

We call upon political leaders to do the right thing, to end all street campaigning and confine their activities to social media and other platforms.

There is no point in creating emergency legislation to make mask-wearing compulsory. One of the core problems with many Jamaicans, by and large, is that they tend to see rules and regulations as suggestions or recommendations. The situation is further compounded with the inability of the authorities to enforce these rules. We just need to look around at the way people litter the streets, without the fear of any consequences. There is a litter law but it is not effectively enforced, so persons act with impunity in discarding their waste.

SAFETY FIRST

Since Jamaica does not have the option for electors to exercise their franchise by voting remotely, it means they will have to trek to the polling station at which they are registered to cast their votes.

The Electoral Office has to do a delicate dance, ensuring that there is access to voting to all those who are duly registered and wish to vote, and how to achieve this while keeping voters and polling officials safe. It may mean that more polling stations may be required, and COVID-19 protocols are adhered to – safe-distancing measures, sanitisation facilities and compulsory wearing of masks.

Will the escalating number of cases be a wake-up call for those who have been callous about observing the necessary protocols? We implore every Jamaican to think about others, those who are vulnerable and those who may be affected by any carelessness on the part of others.

As for the election campaign, can it be taken off the roads – the key is to get the messages across, not to create conditions for COVID-19 to balloon.