Show me your company ...

A.J. Nicholson, Contributor

Perhaps, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) parliamentarian Ernest Smith neither gathered his thoughts together nor looked about him when, in the company of his government leadership and party stalwarts, he felt emboldened to declare to all Jamaica: "Show me your company, and I'll tell you who you are."

After all, his comment comes to us at a time when the stewardship of himself and his colleagues over these past four years must be weighed in that very balance by Jamaicans at home and abroad. And the question is: Would they be found wanting?

Let us put it to the test: Who have been his companions, and what has been their posture? For, make no bones about it: that is the acid test that all present members on the government benches in Gordon House must face. And it would not be wise of them, or any of us, to attempt to sweep the question under the carpet, despite other inescapable issues.

And, there is no denying that there have been, and remain, other such issues, chief of which, of course, have been the depressing global economic challenges that this administration has had to contend with. What Smith and his colleagues, including Andrew Holness, must contemplate, is the judgement of the public regarding how they set about managing that crisis.

Lack of urgency

They must surely recall, as we all do, the total lack of urgency and the early absence of seriousness that were brought to that mammoth task. What sort of mood and resolve did they seek to create among the populace? Did the minister at the helm of the economic management of the country, Audley Shaw, who was right there on the platform with him as he sought to deliver his powerful reminder, not seek to brush aside the challenges of the onrushing economic tsunami insofar as Jamaica was concerned?

In fact, Shaw's first public reaction, upon assuming the position as finance minister, was that there was no need for Jamaica to enter into any borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). His colleague minister of tourism also foresaw glorious opportunities for our country, but his other companions, including Holness and Smith, kept a studied silence.

Recession mindset

That, Smith and Holness will recall, was part of the mindset and the framework within which the Government sought to position the country as the recession came to our doorsteps. The other part was provided by the newly installed prime minister who, when the leader of the Opposition, upon seeing the recession winds gushing towards us, wisely suggested that the Government give some thought to the devastation that those winds would inevitably bring to the most vulnerable among us, replied in terms that "har head mussi tek har".

So, that was the twin platform on which Smith, Holness and their companions sought to erect their economic and social governance programme. The sentiments that fell from the lips of the two most powerful ministers of government were either born out of naïveté or were attempts to hoodwink the public, both of which forever destabilise any order of good governance.

Has anything changed? For, Smith and his companions will certainly not only be aware of the adage 'Show me your company, and I'll tell you who you are', but also the pearls that are inherent in the wisdom of "wah gawn bad a mawnin caan come good a evening".

Here it is then that, in the evening of the administration, nothing has changed. The minister of finance and the entire Government fight with all their might to keep from the public the realities with respect to our agreement with the IMF. They now seek to hoodwink and blindside the voting public, in the same way as they did in the morning of the life of the administration?

But that is only one side. For the other side, in taking the baton from his prime minister, Andrew Holness proceeds to follow in his footsteps. The leader of the Opposition, having heard the IMF resident representative clearly outline the mountain that Jamaica is obliged to climb, boldly suggests that a renegotiation of that stuttering agreement is something that Jamaica should seek to place on the table. The agreement, in any event, comes to an end within only a few months time.

Like his leader in government over these past four years, who had taken so many costly and enervating steps, to the distress and the sapping of the confidence of this nation, Andrew Holness begins his lap of the journey just as his predecessor did. Like his leader had said in effect, for him, the statement of the leader of the Opposition is "careless": har head mussi tek har. Surely, Smith and his companions are aware of the fathers' eating of the sour grapes, thereby setting the children's teeth on edge.

Tools of the trade

It is with that mindset and within that framework that Smith, Holness and their companions grew in Government; those are the tools that they brought to their trade, and for which the new prime minister has vowed "continuity". He has ominously started to fulfil that pledge by making some careless statements of the type that his predecessor was famous for. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

But then he, as head of the education fraternity, and his companions did not display any kind of upset when the teachers were labelled "extortionists"; nor when, early in the day, there was stark political interference in the workings of the Public Service Commission; nor when it was considered wise and prudent to have some $65 million spent to render livable a house that had only recently been occupied by a minister who is referred to as 'Teflon', so that the incumbent would not have to live "in squalor".

Nor was there any unease shown by any of them when CARICOM heads of government were referred to as "mendicants"; nor did any of their companions shout out when it was sought to place a tax on salt; nor when public servants had to go to court to seek help regarding what was due to them; nor when a US government report linked the Jamaican Government, at the highest levels, to organised crime. Throughout it all and more, much more, a studied silence was kept.

Can't escape posture

Of course, Smith, Holness and the near company they have kept over these four years cannot hope to escape the unrelenting posture that they have adopted to this day: that the former prime minister did nothing wrong in his dealings with the infamous extradition affair. And this is so even after he has sought to apologise for his actions, and after even the largely unthinking commissioners of the Manatt-Dudus enquiry found his actions to have been inappropriate.

They must surely know that this is the signature of their four-year administration. It is a stain - a blot - that attaches to all of them, and which cannot be easily removed. And, not one of them uttered a single word when their party leader and head of government proceeded unilaterally to appoint the commissioners to inquire into issues to which he was indelibly connected; and this, after he had made a pledge in the people's Parliament to do otherwise.

But then, nor did they see anything wrong in the appointment of someone as commissioner in relation to the FINSAC enquiry, when they were warned of a potential conflict of interest; nor when there was a loud clamour from stakeholders and the Opposition that the amending Bail Act, which was intended to be part of the so-called crime bills, offended against our constitutional provisions; nor Holness, as leader of government business, hiding behind Standing Orders of the House, to prevent the prime minister from coming clean on matters that affected the lives and comfort level of every Jamaican.

They remained there, either mute or sometimes in blind chorus. And now the new leader pledges to continue on the same path, with the same team, the same companions. The same words are being uttered: the Opposition has no leg to stand on in criticising or making any suggestions to the know-alls. The Opposition has no such authority - moral or otherwise. Clearly, this Government-leopard cannot change its spots. The attitude has not changed since its public endorsement of a new prime minister.

And so, the new Government will consist of the same team: Smith's companions. Its members will keep the same company as they have done for these past four years. In much the same way that they proceeded to make outrageous promises to the people of Jamaica during the last general election campaign, they now conspire to keep required information from them in this, the countdown to the next.

Surely, Smith and Holness and their companions must know that the voting public is keeping score, even as they suffer in silence. But, they converse and exchange thoughts even more than a short time past. The actions and the attitude of the members of Holness and his team will be weighed in the balance, and the Jamaican public also knows of a maxim which sends the same message as Smith's 'Show me your company, and I'll tell you who you are'. It is: 'No better barrel, no better herring'.

A.J. Nicholson is opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.