PNP barking up the wrong tree

Michael Lee-Chin once said that success is one per cent strategy formulation and 99 per cent strategy execution. This dictum, I believe, is true for any organisation - commercial business, school, youth group, political party and yes, a national government.

The People's National Party (PNP) has finally made public the first draft of the Progressive Agenda, a new framework for governance which, when implemented, should make Jamaica a much better place to live, work, raise families and do business.

The party has insisted that this is not a manifesto; hence, there are very few specifics. The detailed agenda, I imagine, should be forthcoming much closer to the elections which are due in 2012. Whether in its current form (framework for governance) or in its next stage (manifesto), the Progressive Agenda falls under the broad heading of a strategic plan to move the country from where we are to where we want to go.

One cannot fault either of our political parties for the quality and efficacy of the manifestos published in the past. In other words, strategy articulation was never a problem for our political parties vying for power. The main problem has been, and continues to be, policy execution when in government. In fact, both Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller are on record giving their full endorsement and support to the Vision 2030 National Development Plan.

Better policy, better practice

Ian Boyne, in his Sunday Gleaner article on August 21, indicated that there is little difference between the policies being put forward by the JLP and the PNP. Therefore, based on Mr Lee-Chin's dictum, it is not the party with the better policy (Progressive Agenda vs Vision 2030 National Development Plan) with which we should be concerned as an electorate; rather, it is the capacity of either party to execute whatever policy will allow us to achieve our national objectives. The PNP is, therefore, barking up the wrong tree and needs to tell the country why it is better at execution.

Shortly before the 2007 general election, an article appeared in The Gleaner indicating that approximately 77 per cent of the promises outlined in the PNP's 2002 manifesto were never realised. Similarly, the much-heralded National Industrial Policy of the mid-1990s which promised 10 consecutive years of six per cent growth in GDP per annum was never implemented. The 2002 manifesto and the National Industrial Policy appeared to have been excellent plans which were never truly realised because of the respective administration's execution deficiencies.

If the PNP is to be the party of choice among the electorate, it must indicate a new and improved capacity to execute strategy and policy. In order to do so, the party needs to make drastic internal changes. There does not seem to have been any significant changes at the hierarchy or at the party spokesperson levels. There have been few new entrants and little indication regarding any change in the mindsets of those who were there before.

Execution deficiency

The simple conclusion is that the PNP's execution capability has not changed much while being in Opposition. Therefore, whatever grand plans eventually emanate from the final version of the Progressive Agenda, I do not expect much improvement in government performance were the PNP to return to power. In my humble opinion, the energy and effort being expended by the PNP looking outwards in crafting the Progressive Agenda would have been better spent looking inwards to drastically improve execution capability.

The Jamaica Labour Party promised much in its 2007 manifesto and has not delivered anywhere near what was promised. The governing party also has a serious case of execution deficiency. Public-sector rationalisation is long on articulation but short on execution. Education transformation has sputtered. Job creation has finally been given a lifeline with the appointment of a minister who executes.

I am not here to compare the execution capabilities of the two parties; that I leave up to the electorate. Suffice it to say, however, well-thinking Jamaicans should really determine which party has the greater propensity to execute strategies and policies as, at the end of the day, there will be very little to choose from between the policies (promises) made in the respective manifestos.

Robert Wynter is the managing director of Strategic Alignment Limited, which facilitates visioning, strategy articulation, organisational realignment and leadership development to enable flawless execution. Comments are welcome at columns@gleanerjm.com and rob.wyn@hotmail.com.