The tri-faceted PNP Progressive Agenda

Having seen, heard and read so many opinions on the People's National Party's (PNP) Progressive Agenda, I thought that perhaps it had already been dissected and discussed enough. However, when I perused the document, I could see why it invites so much commentary.It seems to me that the Progressive Agenda is tri-faceted - it looks like a business plan, a premanifesto and a government plan.

Two and a half years in the making, it gives the appearance of an in-depth, extensive and exhaustive 'business plan' that was well researched and expertly formulated. It obviously recruited some of our brightest minds and incorporated the cleverest of visual and literary techniques designed to 'sell' progressive ideas to a group of people interested in the success of their organisation - in this case, the PNP.

As a business plan, it was a well-presented piece of work that should be used as a guide and a reference manual for the party executives, workers and faithful followers. It's a composite of the ideals for which the party should stand and the goals that it should aim to achieve. The five pillars of: (1) Human Resource Development; (2) A Safe, Secure and Just Society; (3) A Participatory, Accountable and Responsible Society (PAR); (4) Progressive Internationalism; and (5) Economic Growth for Sustainable National Development are powerful and inspiring.

However, the Progressive Agenda was not only released to members of the PNP, it was unveiled to the general public. Because it was not promoted as the PNP's manifesto for the 2012 general election, it therefore does not address in any detail the PNP's "plans, programmes and projects". In spite of that, someone in the party labelled it a premanifesto document.As a premanifesto document, the Progressive Agenda is filled with information about the organisation to promote their policies, ideas and cause (which makes it essentially propagandist). And, although extremely admirable, it appears unachievable (utopian) to me.

Superfluous catchphrases

As a premanifesto document, it is teeming with superfluous and repetitive words and catchphrases promising things and promulgating ideas that are not unique to that organisation and that no party or administration has ever been able to make materialise.

The Progressive Agenda extols the virtues of the previous leaders and accentuates only the positive aspects of the dream that the party has for its role in the country's development. It seeks to address every single aspect of our society and speaks volumes about lofty plans without the necessary substantiation of practicality and efficacy.

The Progressive Agenda is said to represent the "modern expression of the party's time-honoured philosophy" and its "belief in equality and nationhood". However, as the basic plan for a governing administration, it comes across as the well-researched, cleverly compiled, properly documented but idealistic offering of a group of individuals somewhat out of synch with our present-day reality and limitations.

In my opinion, the naïveté and over-reaching evident in the Progressive Agenda preclude serious consideration for implementation and, therefore, renders the document less than useful (as a tool for governance).

And so we are left to wonder about the true purpose of the Progressive Agenda. Is it a business plan for the party? Is it a premanifesto document? Is it a government plan? Or is it all of the above?

What we know for certain is that it has already achieved a major success in shining the spotlight on the PNP, long before the sounding of the gong and the gathering of the forces for the next general elections. The PNP has managed to capture and hold our attention while publicising their stratospheric ideals.

Garth A. Rattray is a physician with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.