Peter Espeut | How to reverse voter disillusionment

Recent polls of public opinion show that political apathy is not in decline in Jamaica, as both our major political parties – largely in vain – stump for supporters. With runaway crime and corruption widely believed to be the two main failures of both parties, one would have expected that as local government elections loom, each would be seeking to upstage the other with far-reaching and incisive anti-crime and anti-corruption proposals.

That is not happening! At least so far.

The rhetoric gushing from all political platforms over the last many years is almost identical: vote for us and we will bring crime under control, and curb political corruption.

The polls suggest that both parties have little credibility when it comes to promises that they will deal with crime and corruption.

Many – maybe most – Jamaicans are convinced that dirty politics is at the root of much of the crime and corruption we are forced to live with, and so declare along with Mercutio “A plague on both your houses!”

Political problem

Having observed opinion polls over many decades, I have to say that it is only in recent times that corruption has been named as a political problem, and in the past it has been argued that taking an anti-corruption stance will not win votes. I don’t know if that was ever true.

Jamaican patronage politics is necessarily corrupt; when people are largely poor and uneducated, the pitch can be “Vote for me and you will get job, zinc (the anniversary of Hurricane Gilbert just passed), house, fertiliser, contract (or whatever), and if you don’t, you won’t!” Both parties have been pandering to their internal customers, the “die-hearted”. But the external customers (the voters, the general public) – quite a bit more sophisticated than in days gone by – see this clientelism as corruption, and opt out of the system.

The number of “die-hearted” is shrinking!

Political independence did not mean a “New Jamaica”, but “same system, new faces”. Our education system has remained elitist (relatively few schools deliver quality), and our economy is dominated by narrow interests that has made Jamaica one of the most unequal societies in the world (measured by the Gini Coefficient). In this climate, political connections (through crime and corruption) provide an easier route to prosperity than honesty and straight-dealing.

For an increasing number of Jamaicans this approach is distasteful and demeaning. Trust and confidence in either party to deliver anything close to equality and justice is low. Conscientious voters either swallow their spit as they cast their ballots, or stay away from the polling stations on election day.

What sort of announced and preached policies might compel a discontented distrustful Jamaican voter to give party a chance? What might a party manifesto promise that could stir political hope in the breasts of the disillusioned and serially disappointed?

The polls might point us in the right direction. The two huge issues front and centre are crime and corruption.

Think big

A party which hopes to bring out a majority of registered voters must think big! They must propose profound changes in our political system like the following:

1. Since many people enter politics to benefit from corruption, parties must be ruthless with their members implicated in irregularities. An undertaking must be given that no matter how loyal a Comrade or Labourite is to the party leader, if they are implicated in corruption they must pack their bags and go!

2. Since Independence, both parties effected housing policies that saw the creation of garrison communities and garrison constituencies. Some serious efforts must be proposed to reverse this evil situation. The plan proposed by this government to level Allman Town, Woodford Park and Kingston Gardens (not garrison communities) to make way for the Parliament Oval, can be used as a de-garrisonisation strategy. This will disrupt the politically aligned gangs and their dons, and will led to widespread urban renewal..

3. The same annual declaration of assets now made by politicians and public servants IN SECRET must now be made public. This will allow the public the opportunity to report discrepancies which might not be discovered by the Integrity Commission.

4. All political parties must publish audited accounts, and all donations they receive must be published on a website for all to see. A private sector with integrity should support such legislation. All contracts awarded by the government no matter how small must also be published. This kind of transparency should minimise cronyism and influence-peddling.

5. Laws that criminalise nepotism and cronyism, and failure to declare conflicts of interest, must be passed.

Generalities like “We promise zero tolerance of corruption” are simply not specific enough and are not credible. Persons implicated in corruption may resign from the Cabinet, but they remain in Parliament, and continue to contest elections representing their party. Or they may get a “bligh” due to their prominence, or due to “youthful exuberance”.

Become the norm

It must become the norm that all political donations are made public, whether to nullify extradition or to support campaigns.

The education level of the police force must be raised, they must be schooled in the latest surveillance and forensic technology, and they must be paid more.

There must be serious and credible steps to fix our dysfunctional education system. One year after the Patterson Report was released, neither party has made any meaningful comment. Who will break their silence first?

Will the People’s National Party at its conference this weekend be brave enough to express a serious commitment to pass far-reaching anti-corruption legislation?

In 2020 the present government was put in office by only 21.34 per cent of those on the voters list; this is a very weak mandate. In my view, unless policies like the above are put in place, the legitimacy of future governments of Jamaica may legitimately be called into question by the international community.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com