With General Elections scheduled for February 25th less than three(3) full days away, Jamaicans will once again go to the polls to elect a Government.
Jamaica’s Parliamentary style democracy gives voters the choice to go to the polls and elect Constituency representatives,members of parlaiment (MP). Members are predetermined by the two major political parties.
So much for democracy !!!
There are a smattering of other parties like the National Democratic Movement. Jerusalem Bread Foundation and the New Nation Coalition.
Neither of the other parties have won a seat in the Island’s parliament to date . Thus far these budding movements are largely seen as disgruntled off-shoots from the Lamaica Labor Party(JLP) and the People’s National Party(PNP).
Technically Jamaicans do not vote for a Prime Minister they vote for their constituency representatives. The Party which wins the most seats in the Island’s 63 seat Legislature then forms the Government. The head of the winning Party is then sworn in as the Prime Minister.
Observer photo.
This style of electoral politics makes it critical for the parties vying for power to hold onto as many seats as they can. Of course the methodology employed toward that end is generally antithetical to the democratic process, and the very idea of having elections in the first place.
The party in control has total say over the purse strings, in small nations like Jamaica where checks and balances only apply to one’s bank account, scarce resources are doled out as the party in power sees fit.
In essence the party in power further solidify it’s hold the longer it remains in office by using patronage/pay politics to maintain it’s hold on the vulnerable. This is generally done through handouts. Free houses , jobs party hacks never show up to , and other goodies. Most importantly however is the creation of entire communities loyal to one party or the other.
This necessarily means that the party in power holds onto power through patronage of the most crass order.
It’s vote buying at it’s worse yet it’s not the only way that voters are manipulated , actual people turning up at people’s homes not know supporter of the party in power and offering them money for their vote is quite common.
The process fills the bellies of the voters in question for a night, continues the Governing party’s stranglehold on power, while eroding the foundation of the democratic process.
As a consequence of the foregone this election cycle the People’s National Party will go into the elections seeking a majority of the 63 seats in the legislature while holding arguably 12 seats which are not in contention.
For it’s part the Jamaica Labor Party will do the same with what what some say are roughly 6 seats which are not in play.
Over the years there have been calls from many quarters for the Island to do away with Garrison Politics which they argue have caused representatives who hold those constituency seats to be uncaring about constituent’s welfare. Additionally they argue that modern policies cannot be implemented because access to garrison communities are limited both physically and intellectually.
This election the Jamaica Labor Party is asking the segment of the electorate experiencing apathy toward the process to give the party another chance at Government.
The conventional wisdom is that the PNP is a party which cares about the poorer class of the people. Of course since 1972 the PNP has held office for almost 32 of those 44 years.
It’s not difficult to see how patronage politics could help to cement that narrative. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has not missed an opportunity to hammer home the idea that her party is a party for the poor earning herself the moniker (mamma P).
The Labor Party has not done enough to counter that narrative since Seaga was first accused of being a white man who cared about the rich. Additionally some of the younger members of the party seem to believe people like being spoken down to.
On several occasions this writer has spoken out about several members of the JLP and their sense of elitism.
The Jamaican people are not above re-electing a party and woman at the helm many believe is not the brightest bulb in the shed but who relate to them on their level.