EDITORIAL: Now that we have spoken to the gangs ...

By now it should be obvious to Jamaica's major political parties that the perception is not only this newspaper's. It is shared by the diplomats of Jamaica's most powerful and influential allies: that our political parties have adopted the characteristics of gangs.

Should they doubt this assertion, they need only study the reports of the leaked diplomatic cables obtained from the free-speech organisation WikiLeaks that we have so far published.

It would be useful, too, for our parties, the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), to remind themselves that reports from diplomats based abroad, such as those revealed in the WikiLeaks cables, are critical in shaping the policies of their home governments to countries like Jamaica.

And if they are honest, they will agree that our characterisation of the parties as gang-like is not flippant. For that is how they have evolved - as closed institutions seeking to capture the State, primarily to pursue narrow group interests and willing, as the WikiLeaks cables reveal, to tolerate in their high councils people who others know, and make known, are corrupt and even criminal.

This newspaper has dramatically brought these issues into the public sphere and has provoked, as we hoped, a public debate on the misbehaviour of the gangs, the irresponsibility of their leadership and, given the duopoly the gangs hold on power, their need to change if Jamaica is to have a less fretful chance of escaping social and economic withering, on whose track we have so long been set.

Having shone the light on the gang-like behaviour of the parties, opened the debate, and, hopefully, sparked self-reflection, this newspaper has no real power, or authority, to insist that the parties change.

Behave responsibly

Three things, therefore, are now important to avoid the feared atrophy.

First, civil society should, as was the case when they pressured the Golding administration to behave responsibly during the Christopher Coke extradition scandal, engage a broader effort at party reform.

At the same time, the professional civil service must throw off its uncritical acquiescence to political bosses, recapture its self-respect and return to providing independent advice and leadership in the public sector.

The third plank of recovery for the gangs of Gordon House demands that they:

Admit to their dysfunctional and destructive behaviour;

Throw out the criminal and the corrupt;

Operate with greater transparency and accountability;

Set clear and verifiable standards for integrity;

Operate with long-term national goals, rather than short-term gang interests; and

Abandon the symbols that mark parties as gangs.

With regard to the issue of symbols, the parties should consider whether their continued identification by colours - green for the JLP and orange/red for the PNP - continues to be useful, given the hostile tone either colour, or the fear the wearing of either imposes on non-gang members, particularly during political seasons. They may ask, too, whether clenched-fists salutes, and similar signals, are not now facile symbols of identification from an infantile ideological era.

Should the parties question their eroding relevance, they need only consider the low levels of trust that Jamaicans have in state institutions and their increasing withdrawal from the political process.

Our aim is to avoid a violent implosion and to ensure an orderly renewal. We hope the parties share the vision.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.