A new democracy?

by Keith Noel

MANY JAMAICANS are hoping that the new People's National Party (PNP) administration will find the political will and the economic wizardry to pull the country through these parlous economic times. We are anxiously awaiting the putting into place of the legislative and economic machinery that would make the much-touted Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) start running, and are concerned about the reports that the source of the fuel for this JEEP, the unspent money from the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme, has almost already dried up.

Although there are some who expect that the PNP can usher in a period of relative prosperity, many are more realistic in their hopes. If the Portia Simpson Miller administration can, in the first instance, prevent the economic situation from getting worse and then find a way to improve the situation of the most poor while bolstering the lower middle class, it would have been a major success. The realistic among us realise the truth in the claims of the Golding/Holness administration that much of our economic woes are directly connected to a global problem. We see crumbling economies in the Third World, we look at Europe and see 'First World' economies floundering, and we know we are in a real quandary.

Risky economic times

But it is the debate among United States (US) politicians that brings things forcibly home. President Barack Obama, in his recent State of the Union address, spent much time laying out his plans to 'put Americans back to work' and to show how he would stimulate the US economy. Some of the underpinnings of what President Obama said were surprisingly similar to those which undergirded what our own prime minister and minister of finance were saying when speaking about the JEEP.

So we realise that if even the richest country in the world is facing risky economic times, it is not surprising that client economies like ours are also undergoing a rough period.

So why was the Jamaica Labour Party rejected? This was summed up for me by a vendor in Papine Market who said that she knew things were rough but 'dem fi mek we know what dem plan fi do an how dem plan fi do it' and, most important, 'ask we wha we tink and lissen to wha we say'.

This is profound. And this is the reason why I think the PNP, especially under Portia Simpson Miller, has the best chance to see us through this period. When 'Sister P' was minister of local government, during the Patterson administration, she piloted one of the most progressive projects in our recent history. It involved governance and our attitude to governance. In a ministry paper tabled in February 2003, Mrs Simpson Miller outlined her plans for local government reform. One of its features was that it introduced a clear idea to 'empower citizens and communities to take responsibility for the management of their economic, educational, cultural and recreational needs'. It also suggested that, eventually, citizens would 'constitute a monitoring mechanism to ensure efficiency in the use of financial and other resources that are available ... '.

Citizen empowerment

The revolutionary impact of this policy was not lost on everyone and stumbling blocks began to appear everywhere as those in some areas of authority realised that this empowerment of the ordinary citizen would result in the complete eradication of their role as 'benefactor'. Any development in a small community would no longer be seen as the councillor or area leader 'looking after' the people, but a corporate exercise where people would have a say in what was to be done and would have some 'watchdog' rights when it was being done.

The coming together of community-based organisations into community development committees (CDCs), development area committees and parish development committees started the process. But it was to be a long process. Attitudes to governance and concepts of power had to be changed. Only then would we be ready for this new kind of democracy.

For the past four years, this growth was on hold and the CDCs struggled to stay alive. But now, with Mrs Simpson Miller as prime minister, and the citizenry ready for this type of social and political growth, as the market vendor's statements suggest, this government is poised to do something even more important than JEEP.

Keith Noel is an educator. Send comments to columns@gleanerjm.com