Put people first, elections after

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Sunday | August 26, 2007

Robert Buddan

"We can't have people suffering and be thinking of elections, so my focus is on people and how well we can work, so that the country can be restored to normality and people can pick up their lives." So said the Prime Minister the day after Hurricane Dean struck and her sentiments reflect mine exactly. What this means is that whether elections are held tomorrow or later, the immediate priority should be national recovery and we should not politicise that recovery.

It follows that we should recognise and assist the 'people first agencies' that have made it possible to minimise death and damage when the situation is compared to previous hurricanes. Chief among these are the security and safety services (police, soldiers, fire, private security), the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, the churches, NGOs, water, electricity, and telephone companies, and private individuals and communities.

HURRICANE POLITICS

It follows, too, that we should support a state of emergency aimed at protecting life and property and to allow the security, recovery, and relief efforts to bring life and light back to communities that were most vulnerable to criminals during the period of widespread darkness; and to ready the country's health and educational institutions, and transport and communications networks that are essential to restoring normality so that people can get on with their lives. The state of emergency has been working without hindering people's rights anyway. Normality must come before elections because people must be able to exercise their right to vote under the best possible conditions.

The Prime Minister has said that the state of emergency was called without regard to any electoral advantage, will be revoked before elections are held, and was necessary to restore electricity, communication andtransportation infrastructure for voting to take place. Election centres need electricity, voters need means of transport and roads have to be cleared for them to access polling stations. Flights have to be restored for overseas election observers to arrive in time to assess the period leading up to elections and for them to be able to move around on election day.

Too many political pundits have failed to demonstrate regard for those most affected and are too quick to make politics out of the emergency and the recovery efforts. They want to put politics first and people after. People usually complain that politicians put politics ahead of people. Now we can use this opportunity to join with those who insist that we must put people first and winning power next. Those who complain about the state of emergency are not likely to live in the vulnerable communities that need a safe environment in which to secure life, food, and shelter first. But even then, there is no excuse for their insensitivity.

While election campaigns divide, disasters do unite. The disaster brought out evidence of the spirit of community in the way that ordinary Jamaicans helped to clear roads, assisted in repairs, kept in touch, shared food, and otherwise looked out for each other. It is this spirit that makes it possible to put people's problems first. We should also recognise the spirit of politics in those cases where political candidates spent time in and with their communities to alert of danger, advise about shelter, assist with disaster management, and take people to safety. The cynic might say they only did this to get votes. I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt to say they acted, at least in part, out of a sense of service.

ELECTION ADVANTAGE

It is natural enough for people to wonder which party will be helped by the disaster. They say the recovery efforts will give the PNP opportunity to win favour and influence voters. Those who do not want a postponement of the elections and who criticise the state of emergency (as grounds for postponing the elections) say a postponement would give the PNP even more time to benefit. But the JLP could have the advantage if every act of relief and recovery is looked at as a political act rather than as acts of mercy or a duty of government, and if every failure to quickly and fully reach those who suffered is taken as evidence that government does not care and therefore as reason for a new government.

The disaster also gives grounds for arguments against voting for the JLP. A JLP government will be the most inexperienced in Jamaica's history. Only about three of its candidates have held Cabinet positions before and that was 18 years ago. A new JLP government will not have time to learn the ropes and ministers will not have ready experience with the operation of their ministries. They will not be familiar with those people in the strategic positions necessary to keep the relief and recovery efforts going without having to spend time getting on top of the situation and making mistakes in the process.

Also, the costs of the damage still have to be calculated but they will be significant. Questions have already been asked about how the JLP intends to fund its $60 billion package of promises. Considering the costs of the hurricane to the economy (tourism, agriculture, infrastructure) that question now has new urgency. Will the JLP be able to deliver on what it had promised, and will its government have the experience to manage a critical situation of post-hurricane recovery and economic stabilisation? Is this the time for a minister of finance with no experience at all to be put in charge of our accounts?

Furthermore, the JLP has placed itself in an awkward position to benefit from international assistance. Venezuela and Brazil were the first two countries to offer help to Jamaica. Cuba, having been spared the wrath of Hurricane Dean, always does what it can. The JLP has unwisely decided to take sides in the quarrels those countries have with the United States. Even without the $60 billion package of promises, the Jamaican government will still need help because the country is on a tight budget. The country cannot afford to turn down offers of help from any quarter because of quarrels between other countries that do not involve us.

The JLP has compromised its ability to act in the country's national interest by sending the wrong signals to those countries most willing to help. The government of Spain has also promised help. Spain is a good friend of Jamaica, Venezuela, Brazil, and Cuba and its socialist government has its own issues with the United States. Will the JLP reject Spain's help, too?

Hurricane Dean has forced us to think about whether we put people or elections first. Even before the parties go to the polls they will have to think about going to the voters (including those who do not plan to vote) with substantive help that will put roofs on their houses, medicines in their hospitals, and repairs to their schools and roads rather than simply with election propaganda. Otherwise, many might not vote at all and one or the other party will suffer as a result.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm.