Political myopia: Opposition squandering its opportunity

By Jaevion Nelson

The “uncertainty, unease and despair about the future of our country” (Andrew Holness, 2014) that seems to be especially common among our young people is palpable. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), the party that forms the parliamentary opposition, does an excellent job reminding us of the difficulty of our predicament. Many Jamaicans are however, waiting with bated breath to be convinced that they should be elected as government come 2015.

The parliament is an excellent forum for the opposition to do this and it should not be taken for granted. It should (or could?) be used to show it is a better alternative (as they profess) by scrutinizing the operations of the government and holding them accountable to the people. According to the World Bank and McGill University, “elected representatives of the people must be able to present and discuss alternative policy options even if they are not part of the government and do not have an immediate way of making their plans succeed.”

Last week, the Opposition Leader, Hon. Andrew Holness, referred to the JLP as “the party of solutions” during his budget debate presentation but I feel as though he squandered an important opportunity. I appreciate the recommendations he made though we would need to discuss the usefulness of some of the proposed initiatives but I think too much time was spent ventilating about the debt (in the section entitled “Exposing the False Narrative and Setting the Record Straight on the National Debt”). I fully agree with him that “over the past years we found ourselves being sold the same promises, the same visions of hope, how firm we should stand, the progress we should not stop, the progress we should log on to, the courses we should not change, that this was a new beginning, this was people power.” Of course these were political jabs at the PNP but he seemingly doesn’t realise the JLP is just as culpable.

I highly doubt that another history lesson about how the PNP (mis)managed the economy and accumulated this high level debt, to around 130 per cent of GDP, was the most productive use of his/our time. What we want now is action and less heckling and banter inside and outside of parliament. It it is incumbent on him to lead an opposition that will ensure the government achieve what it proposes to do in a given year and that what it proposes to do can make a difference in our lives. To do otherwise would not be beneficial to any of us. We therefore need to know what the Opposition plans to do to ensure the government pursues an economic reform and growth agenda that will benefit us, that will make our lives better. I didn’t hear as much about that last week from him.

The Opposition’s Role

It is rather uncanny to hear the Opposition Leader complained about what successive PNP administrations have done in government over the years. One would think an opposition was non-existent. Is it not the role of the opposition to hold the government accountable to the people? There is a parliamentary opposition because their duty is to question the government and hold them accountable to us, the people of Jamaica, and providing alternatives where appropriate.

Many of us might say they can’t do much but it is not our responsibility as voters to make excuses for government and opposition. The opposition, regardless of which party constitutes it, has a key role in national development. We shouldn't help them, or the government for that matter, to abdicate their duty/responsibilities. Our purpose, whether we cast a vote or not, is to hold them accountable to their duties by being active in the governance process. Making excuses for our parliamentarians, is the very reason we are now is this predicament that appears to be most difficult to get out of.

The World Bank & McGill University posit in a course module for parliamentarians and their staff, “Members of the opposition must accept that opportunities for their work as initiators of legislation will be limited but their role as representatives is undiminished and greater burdens devolve on opposition Members than on government backbenchers in regard to scrutiny and oversight.”

The government is at all times answerable to the public and we cannot by ourselves hold them accountable. It is therefore incumbent on the Opposition, as a crucial aspect of good governance, to challenge the government by putting them in the spotlight on the issues affecting the people and their future (and that of their children). If we are to “forge a new way forward” then the opposition will have to do much more with its parliamentary privileges (however few they may be).