LETTER OF THE DAY: A chance for change?
Published:Saturday | July 17, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The Editor, Sir:
Jamaica is caught in the vortex of a devastating lack of leadership in the area of governance. Corruption, incompetence and the ugly political grab for power that characterizes the modus operandi of our major political parties have, not surprisingly, resulted in the country haemorrhaging in almost every area of national life.
And things are getting worse. We are yet to comprehend how a prime minister could even give thought to the betrayal that emanated from our prime minister's conduct in the partially disclosed extradition matter. But as low as we were made to feel as a people, we may yet see worse if the quality of the leadership provided by our political parties is not immediately and substantially improved.
I hope that Prime Minister Bruce Golding's continued incumbency is premised on a few undisclosed factors. Namely, a recognition that his political days are numbered and are somewhere between tomorrow and the next poll; that he is staying on to continue the overdue fight to dismantle organized crime and criminal gangs (so as to allow him to leave office with his gaze fixed somewhere above his knees) and that he will vacate the office of prime minister to a young person in the JLP as a signal of his party's break from our dirty political past.
And what of the Opposition PNP? In response to the growing calls from civil society for changes in our politics and governance, the party is busy transmitting the signal that such changes can be made without the corresponding changes in its leadership cadre. But these transmissions are only self-serving and cannot withstand scrutiny. Indeed, the party's unpreparedness for the type of governance that is so urgently needed is, itself a clear sign that the changes to be made by the party cannot be cosmetic.
New leadership
It is my view that the PNP should seriously consider retiring its aged and baggage-laden leadership incumbency and vest leadership in the younger generation. This move would not be novel. In the late 1960's there was a call for change that echoed across the land. The party responded by vesting leadership in a young Michael Manley, who was not yet an elected member of parliament. And he did lead the change for betterment in many areas of national life.
Today, there is a growing call for change in our loathed politics. A change that demands not only a change in practices but also in practitioners. Will our political parties respond appropriately?
I am, etc.,
Delford G. Morgan
Attorney-at-Law