What Portia must recall

Ian Boyne, Contributor

The reason why the 20-member Cabinet is such a bad decision and the worst way for Portia Simpson Miller to start her second tenure is not just that it will cost taxpayers money we desperately need to save. And it’s not just an awful decision because it robs the Government of the opportunity to lead by example in these times of austerity and belt-tightening for the masses.
It is most regrettable because when one remembers the PM’s stridency and vociferousness over Bruce Golding’s decision to appoint a 19-member Cabinet, this decision only deepens the already dangerously high levels of cynicism and distrust towards politicians. If we learn nothing else from the recent routing from power of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), it should be that distrust of, and cynicism at, the words of leaders can be fatal to their ambitions.
Portia must recall why she got her own mandate from the people and why her predecessors fell from grace. It was not primarily about the economy, in my view, though that played a major part. Trust and credibility weighed more heavily. Trust is fragile and cannot be trifled with. This Portia must always recall.
A turning point in the demise of Bruce Golding was that weekend when the RJR Communications Group played on its radio and television stations his voice ‘chawing fire’ over Trafigura – and then being caught in the same conundrum. Those clips played over and over brought a torrent of criticism from civil-society groups, including the Church, and forced him to offer his resignation to his party that very weekend.
Watch your words!
When we catch politicians saying one thing, mounting a high horse and then doing the very things they deplore, its impact on our trust can be devastating. To hear Portia, as opposition leader, vehemently attacking Golding on his “whatnot” passing off as Cabinet (which I first heard replayed on Nationwide), and then one day after her own swearing-in naming what some termed a “breakfront”, was jarring to many. (But keep in mind also, in this tragicomical game of politics, that she herself was responding to Golding’s own inconsistency in criticising her Cabinet when she was in power briefly and then he outdid her number in naming his. I guess she has to repay the favour!)
The issue of trust and credibility is the biggest issue in Jamaican politics today. The perception that the words of members of the former JLP administration could not be trusted; that its members played fast and loose with the truth; and that they were not sincere but were only looking out for their own narrow interests was revolting to many. It cost the JLP dearly. Portia must always recall that. Her blunder in naming a Cabinet bigger than Golding’s, when she had criticised him so harshly, leads many to question whether she is really going to be different.
It is too early for people to lose hope and to become sceptical. Hope is what the Jamaican people need most now. Confidence is what they need in their political leaders. The worst thing you could do now is to jeopardise and squander that confidence.
The Jamaican political culture is in crisis. A crisis of confidence borne of cynicism, alienation and disillusionment. Portia must recall this every single day she is in office. Let not the PNP sycophants lose sight of the importance of symbolism and downplay this bad decision regarding the bigger-than-Golding’s Cabinet. For my own part, I am not hung up much about who gets what post. The Gleaner’s revelation about what the Portia Cabinet is costing us is not the most alarming thing to me (though example, in austerity, is crucial). Whether size matters or not is not the most crucial issue to me.
Flip-flopping
The most crucial issue to me is what message this flip-flopping is sending to an already jaded, cynical and distrustful population; a population in which close to 50 per cent saw no reason to go into a polling booth – the highest non-participation in our democracy of all our contested elections.
Dennie Quill’s 16-member dream team selection last Wednesday seems good to me. Devon Hunter had a good list, too. Many good lists can be generated. That’s not the most crucial issue. I can live with this 20-member Cabinet. But I am concerned about how people are interpreting Portia’s saying one thing – and so stridently – and doing another. So early in her tenure.
Of course, in terms of raw politics, the early days of a political administration’s tenure is the best time to make blunders. You have enough time to make up, and by election time people generally forget, unless you continue making blunders. (Though people still remember Golding’s early Vasciannie decision.) The hope is, this will be a nine-day wonder, people will soon stop griping about it, and Portia will win back their love and confidence again. Better make the mistakes and offences now. But what the PM must ensure is that she places a moratorium on these kinds of decisions which come across to people as insensitive, inconsistent and indelicate.
I have no doubt that the PM means well, and that she is sincere, dedicated to the people’s interests and intends to make a difference. I believe all that she uttered in her inaugural address. I believe she understands the significant trust deficit which exists and intends to bridge it. She is not perfect, and she must humbly accept that she erred badly with this decision and that not everyone who points that out is an enemy and hostile. Any such intolerant spirit which is nurtured (and there are enough tribalists to push that view) will only prod her in a direction which many say led to the JLP’s electoral demise on December 29, 2011.
Trust deficit troubling
Portia must recall how fragile this matter of trust is. People lend her their trust and are only too eager to retrieve it. She can’t own that trust, but has to earn it every day by every action. My counsel to her is to draw on her reserve of humility and servant leadership and listen to the people. I know I don’t have to tell her that, but that’s my public responsibility, from which no threats can deter me.
A 2010 survey done by the UWI and several international organisations, including the Latin American Public Opinion Project, found that only eight per cent of Jamaicans expressed any confidence in Parliament and only 9.7 per cent trust government officials. In fact, only 14 per cent of Jamaicans say they trust other people generally (This was so in similar polls conducted in 2006, 2007 and 2008.) Our social capital is very low.
Empirical research in country after country has demonstrated that low social capital is associated with poverty and underdevelopment. No matter what is done in fiscal and monetary policy, and no matter what efforts are made to attract foreign investors, our low-trust society will continue to engender poverty and marginalisation for the masses.
Politicians have badly breached public trust and have earned the wrath, disgust and opprobrium of the people. This Portia must always recall. This is her chance to make a difference. She can’t afford to squander it. She can’t afford to give the wrong signals.
I have one word of advice to this PNP administration: Don’t forget the JLP Government’s mishandling of communications and public relations. (That’s one thing JLP apologist John Blake and I will agree on!) The PNP had a masterful and effective PR and communications machinery in Opposition. Its victory on December 29 had a lot to do with its superior communications strategies and timeliness. It must not make the mistake of losing touch with the people while in office.
The administration handled the Cabinet appointments badly from a communications point of view. Someone should have known that there would have been backlash over this 20-member Cabinet and should have ensured that the PM had an adequate and thorough justification of that in her speech at the swearing-in. That should have been followed up with a press conference facing journalists and further amplifying the talking points, aimed at convincing us why the administration felt that it should go this route. Talk to the people. Let us know you care about our feelings how we might react.
The Rev Devon Dick, who could never be accused of being hostile to the PNP, put it well in his Thursday column in The Gleaner: “Since symbolism is important, the Cabinet should not have been more than 19 based on her (the PM’s) previous criticism. It would have been helpful if the PM had acknowledged her previous criticism and then given cogent reasons
for changing her mind, or apologise for not being able to fulfil her implicit promise. This could affect
credibility.” Well put.
My own sense is that the PM will compensate for this blunder and will use it as an object lesson to move on. Portia is nothing if not a good learner. She is not inflexible and stubborn to her own hurt. I think I know enough about her to know that she has every intention of making a difference and leaving a legacy of which she – and Jamaica – can be proud.
I join The Gleaner in urging her to appoint some independent senators. The Jamaican people want a genuinely inclusive, non-tribalist approach to politics. We are tired of the political pork barrel, the rewarding for favours done, the political victimisation, the promotion of commitment (to party) over skill. We want no more Pickersgill Committee or Seiveright Doctrine. We are tired of that.
We want to trust again, to hope again; to be able to believe our politicians’ words. To know it’s more than ‘mouth talk’ and ‘politricks’. This is what Portia must recall.
■ Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ianboyne1@yahoo.com.