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Breaking loose - Garrison youths seek to break free of political ties
People's National Party president, Portia Simpson Miller, shows off her fitness by running towards the nomination centre on Tuesday, August 7.File photo.
Jamaica Labour Party candidate for Western Kingston Bruce Golding (left) with Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie. - File photo.
Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Wednesday | August 15, 2007
Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
His face was a study in contrasts. One moment he was a typical teenager, smiling and speaking in hushed tones with the young ladies seated on either side. A minute later his eyes were flashing with anger and resentment. Voice raised, he gestured, first in defiance, then in frustration.
Born and raised in one of Kingston's toughest neighbourhoods, he has had to live by the codes governing life in a political garrison. Now, he wants to break the chains of that existence, but sees no way out, immediately.
Foremost among those rules, he said, is that you must submit to the will of the majority and vote accordingly. Thus it was in the beginning for his mother; thus it has been decreed for her offspring.
But times are changing, and keeping the young in line is not as easy as it was with their parents. He wants to vote for "the other side"; a mortal sin, he said, in his "talibanised" section of Jamaica.
Feelings towards his elders
His feelings towards his elders are complex - a mixture of sympathy and disdain. "On nomination day they came out in their party colours and I asked myself, how many of them have a job? And they don't see that they are not helping themselves".
The recent amendment to the Representation of the People Act banning the practice of open voting has done nothing to assure the young man that voting his conscience would be safe.
"When I go into the polling booth what security do I have with one policeman on duty? If someone comes to me and demand that I show him my ballot, if I don't show him the ballot, I am dead!"
The young woman who spoke up next is from a different community, but that difference is in geographical terms only. "It doesn't matter what you do; they are going to attack you," she said of the desire of her generation to break from her community's garrison heritage.
"They are prisoners!" was the very strong reaction of Gleaner columnist, Martin Henry, to the plight outlined by the young people.
That 'prisoner' characterisation was not just metaphorical, but was grounded in the reality of life in so-called garrison communities, he insisted, pointing to restrictions on the freedom of movement and conscience of these residents.
"These are the Jamaicans who have lost most of their constitutional rights," he asserted.
Dr. Peter Phillips, the Minister of National Security who also has responsibility for electoral affairs, told The Gleaner that he was sympathetic to the young people but insisted that the Government was taking steps to guarantee their voting rights.
Security arrangements
"The security forces and the electoral commission have worked over the past two elections to set in place laws and security arrangements that guarantee every citizen the privacy of their ballots and people are going to have to ensure that they exercise their right in keeping with their own conscience as to how to vote. Rights are only meaningful when people exercise them, and they have to have the courage to do so," he asserted.
The editors' forum with the inner-city youths was held at the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF), located at Camp Road, St. Andrew. Donna Parchment, executive director of the DRF, gave them strong vocal support.
"I worry that we so often hear them, not as individual Jamaican citizens, entitled to the full rights and protection today, as distinct from their future prospects. I am worried about their present circumstances, which are not giving them the level of fulfilment that they require."
Dr. Phillips conceded that "there is still a residue of that kind of intimidation (preventing one from switching loyalty) to impede people's freedom of expression."
Serious efforts were being made to stamp out these practices, he insisted, citing police initiatives such as Operation Kingfish and Crime Stop as avenues through which those affected can make their concerns known.
"You will never rid your community of criminal thugs until the good people step forward, and when they step forward the state will back them," he insisted.
Political garrisons are described as communities or entire constituencies, in which voting is homogenous, with most of the votes going to one political party. Historically, violence and other forms of intimidation have often been used to guarantee adherence.
South West St. Andrew, the constituency of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding's West Kingston constituency have historically been cited as two of the leading garrisons.
During their face-off in the national debate last Saturday, both leaders insisted they were supporting efforts to change these features of their constituencies.
Election results in West Kingston and South West St. Andrew - 1976-2002
1976
West Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
8075 4376
PNP PNP
2318 13584
1980
West Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
9335 - 4524
PNP - PNP
575 - 17192
1989
W. Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
11744 - 396
PNP - PNP
2615 - 18577
1993
West Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
11944 - 71
PNP - PNP
613 - 16439
1997
West Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
11442 - 312
PNP - PNP
2072 - 15191
2002
West Kingston S/W St. Andrew
JLP - JLP
11251 - 618
PNP - PNP
2099 - 9716
Note: The West Kingston boundary was changed in the 1980s, bringing the PNP stronghold of Hannah Town/Matthews Lane into the JLP dominated constituency.
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