Peter Espeut | Hard truths, half-truths and falsehoods

Old time people sey, dat when yuh trow stone inna hog sty, the one dat bawl is de one whey get lick!

Lothan Cousins LLB, first term member of parliament (MP) from the People’s National Party (PNP), has caused a stir in some circles because of remarks he made at a PNP political rally last weekend. One hard truth he broadcast was that “the private sector will always support the government that is going to support them”. He accused corporate Jamaica of propping up the current Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government; the implication was that the PNP is starving for political donations.

Jamaican political parties do not operate farms or factories or earn their own money. Every dollar they spend comes either from membership dues (a paltry sum, I am told), or from political donations provided by persons with money, either local or foreign. In the bad old days when politicians gave guns to poor ghetto youth to defend their garrison communities, where did the money come from? The private sector, of course! What we have in Jamaica is an unholy alliance between political parties and the private sector which has brought us to where we are today. Lothan Cousins is dead right about that!

The private sector cannot be let off the hook for funding political parties in their darkest moments, when garrison constituencies were being created, and rival gangs were being established to guarantee electoral victory; not to mention providing secret funds for the clandestine hiring of Washington lobbyists, and public relations firms. Political corruption requires at least two participants; if we criticise politicians for corruption, in fairness we must also call out the private sector for their participation in sleaze.

CONVENIENTLY FORGETTING

What Lothan Cousins is conveniently forgetting (it amounts to a half-truth) is the long season when the JLP was in opposition, when the PNP was “cashy” with political slush from corporate Jamaica and overseas interests (like Trafigura). The pot should avoid calling the kettle black!

In our short political history, every PNP and JLP government has been propped up by the private sector, with tens of billions of secret political donations, especially at election time. The occasion of the intemperate remarks of MP Cousins were an opportunity for serious interrogation of the “propping-up” mechanism, and how transparency can be brought into the process.

Government spin-doctors described the unholy alliance between political parties and the private sector as a “partnership for progress”, and the media – itself part of the private sector which props up the party-in-power – allowed them to get away with that falsehood. Over the years I have seen for myself how elements in the print and electronic media provide (free?) public relations services for the government of the day. I hear the pigs in the hogsty squealing!

In the public discussion of this incident, both media and private sector interests expressed outrage at the exposure of how they together have been continuing the tradition of propping up the government-in-place. What I hoped for (but I am told that I have unreasonable expectations) was a discussion with the private sector of how their political donations can be more transparent.

MP Cousins – a graduate of The University of the West Indies (UWI) – went on to show his lack of appreciation of history when he said, “I cannot see how poor black people can support a party like the Jamaica Labour Party; that is not the party for us. The PNP is the party of the people … .”

The JLP was founded on the work of trades unions among poor black people in canefields and shop floors. How Bustamante was able to convince both capital and labour that his party would serve both their best interests remains a mystery to me; but the fact is that he did it. Historically, the PNP was the party of brown people and university intellectuals, who assured the black Jamaican masses that they knew what was best for them, and had their best interests at heart.

YOU DECIDE

I will leave it to you to decide whether there has been any change in the political demographic in 60 years.

Both the PNP and the JLP have had long runs in power, and the Jamaican education system continues to fail, the economy has failed to grow, corruption is endemic, the natural environment continues to deteriorate, the garrisons and gangs continue in place, and murders continue to rise. Neither the PNP nor the JLP have shown themselves – by their actions – to be parties of the people. The claims of MP Cousins that when the PNP is on power, the people are in power, and things will be better for poor black people, ring hollow.

Jamaican voters have matured over the last 60 years. The low and declining turnouts at the polls show that the people have rejected both the PNP and the JLP. Where do we go from here?

Somebody has to break ranks and call for serious political change. Either the private sector or one of the political parties must demand transparency and break the secrecy surrounding political donations. The Church – which has been much too pally-wally with both the politicians and the private sector – must regain its own moral compass and call out its members and supporters (in politics and business) to demand an end to corruption.

Armenia had its Velvet Revolution. Burma (Myanmar) had its Saffron Revolution. Soviet Georgia had its Rose Revolution, and the Ukraine had its Orange Revolution. When Jamaicans realise that carrying on with more of the same will take us nowhere, maybe we will have our Ackee Revolution.

Better that sensible people step forward and demand change in an orderly way. There is a lot of guilt and blame to go around, and serious introspection can be cathartic. It is time for us to be our own profound change.

Peter Espeut is an environment and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com