Can't diss the Rastaman

by Daniel Thwaites

Now that everyone is talking politics, I would rather talk about something else. Alas, it's not in the cards, since the fundamentalist has cancelled Christmas. So I have in mind to record my admiration for all candidates that have taken the field.

People talk about Jamaica being 'PNP country' or 'JLP country', when it is neither. Each party is preferred by roughly one-quarter of the electorate, and the rest dislike but decide elections by staying home or voting for a side.

One upshot is thatonce a prospective candidate declares, there's a full three-quarters of the country that will regard him or her with deep suspicion and a sizeable group that will delight in each and every misstep. Representational politics is not for the faint or the weak.

Additionally, as the electoral system improves, more constituencies are competitive, and the national landslides of the past are ancient history. Once people go behind the curtain, it's their choice what to do, wherever they live and regardless of who wrap up di money in di T-shirt. Let's get to the point!

Debates and MOUs

It's good to see things like debates featuring more heavily in campaigns. I thought the youth debate went well, with strong performances from Pryce, Hanna and Newby. Pryce functioned as an energetic 'sweeper', while Hanna scored. Inexplicably, Malahoo Forte often ended her contributions with a look of pained disdain.

Regarding the finance debate, I have one issue. When Audley Shaw asked if Peter Phillips could be trusted based on his record of signing the MOUs, Phillips spent a few precious moments defending himself. Wrong move! Unless in Jamaica a man defends himself for saving thousands of lives!

The MOUs led inexorably to overturning the cornerstone of the politically protected, drug-funded four-decade-long crime wave. What matters is that Phillips passed the true character test and did what was right when there was no reasonable prospect of publicity.

I won't waste words to compare that to the entire Cabinet's conduct in the vast conspiracy to maintain the Tivoli empire.

Those MOUs are supposed to be secret. The status of the IMF agreement and the "bitter medicine" is not. Yet, somehow, the opposite is urged on us.

Still, for our system to actually work and hopefully improve, people must be willing to come forward. These few will weather abuse, assaults, intense competition, and head out on to the platform. So the 150 candidates that got enumerated deserve some respect for holding themselves out. Well, 149 of them do.

The shadowy man from Grants Pen named Damion O. Crawford deserves none. Avoiding the press, without a campaign, and with a symbol and 'plans' deliberately aimed at confusing himself with the real Damion O. Crawford, 'Damion No. 2' was enumerated in East Rural St Andrew.

In The Sunday Gleaner, he's quoted as saying, "I am not supposed to be disclosing any information ... ." Not supposed to? Well, maybe - just maybe - we're now down to 148. For whoever put him up to this underhanded trick has surrendered any claim to respectability as well.

Confuse voters

The democratic voting right is a great and awesome leveller. The farmer in Penlyne Castle has the same power as the middle-class voter in Harbour View or the aristocrat in Irish Town. Anyone who has ever counted ballots knows it is easy for voters to get confused, make mistakes, or inadvertently spoil them. It's disgusting that slick soulless tricksters should have crafted a plan to confuse voters.

The JLP is flush with money and currently controls four of the constituency's five parish council divisions. All the Rastaman has is his message and his energy. The trickery is a massive disappointment.

Joan Gordon-Webley should denounce it. I want to say that during the '80s she was a good MP, although other issues dampen the praise.

Ultimately, it's not Damion Crawford, who is under threat. It's the voter who may not be paying too much attention to the election, but has formed an intention to send Damion to Parliament.

Will Mr Holness unequivocally denounce this kind of electioneering as an appropriate stratagem? It can be done while he walks with Portia and explains his "bitter medicine" to inner-city people. Otherwise, we're down to 147.

Wait deh! This just in! This trick was seen before in West Central St Andrew when two Patrick Robertses were nominated in 2002 to run against Mr Holness. Even more then, Mr Holness, take a word from Sizzla: get to the point. Can't diss the Rastaman anoint!

Daniel Thwaites is a partner of Thwaites, Lundgren & D'Arcy in New York, and currently qualifying for the Jamaican Bar. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.