Letter of the Day | The purpose of manifestos

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to the article, ‘Missing the mark’, published in The Gleaner on August 12. It is evident that 60 per cent of the electorate do not make their decisions to vote for either of the two major political parties, based on the manifestos. While 40 per cent of the electorates make their decisions to vote for either of the two major political parties based on the manifestos.

In fact, many Jamaicans do not like to read manifestos, they rather see things done, action, and no long talk. Efforts by the UK and Jamaica governments to improve political manifestos and better address the needs of their electorates involve different approaches.

In the UK, in response to declining turnout and low voter registration, is focusing on strengthening democracy and increasing participation in elections.

While in Jamaica, recent news indicates political parties are being urged to focus on substantive issues and present detailed manifestos that positively impact the country’s development and citizens well-being. The PNP has recently unveiled its 2025 manifesto and the JLP 2025 manifesto is not released

In Jamaica and the UK, political manifestos are not legally binding. They represent a collection of pledges (promises) that political parties make to voters, outlining their plans and policies if elected into government.

The People’s National Party (PNP) launched their manifesto on August 12. While the Jamaica Labour Party will release their manifesto “in sufficient time for it to be ventilated prior to the September 3 general election.” Kamina Johnson Smith, chair of the JLP’s manifesto and achievements committee, stated the manifesto is complete and policies are settled.

In fact, in the 2024 general election in England, the Conservative and Labour parties both released their manifestos within two weeks of the election, the Liberal Democrats were actually the first to release theirs in that timeframe.

According to The Guardian article, “ Why is it not a crime to break manifesto promises? This seems a simply way of making election manifestos genuinely meaningful documents-and also protecting the democratic process.”

Finally. the simple answer is that it’s not a crime because Parliament has not passed a law making manifesto’s legally enforceable.

CARGILL KELLY