Priority for new government

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Tuesday | September 4, 2007

THE CAMPAIGN leading up to yesterday's general election was one of the longest in this country's history, stretching out over one year. Many of us are very glad that it is now over, freeing up a bit of space for the country to settle down and get back to business. We have been on standstill too long, awaiting the outcome.

At the time of writing, Jamaicans had not yet gone to the polls, but, from all indications, there is a great deal of interest in the election and it should not be surprising if there is a very high turnout of voters.

It has been a tough fight for both the Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), with Portia Simpson Miller at the helm. It was a campaign marred by clashes between supporters of both sides. There were also killings, said to be politically motivated. This is an ugly side of our politics that will leave scars on the minds of many Jamaicans long after the last ballot is counted.

New tasks for PM

Now the election is over, whomever is given the mantle of Prime Minister will have to set about the business of unifying Jamaicans across the many lines that divide us, including the partisan ones. That has to be the top priority.

We cannot hope to move the country forward if there is no clear sense of ourselves as one people. Unfortunately, many of us see ourselves as PNP or JLP first, and Jamaicans second.

Successive leaders have paid lip service to this business of national unity, but have fallen back into divisiveness when the country needed them to display courage and stick to ideals. The question now is whether the new Prime Minister can break out of that and show a new path.

If Mrs. Simpson Miller is returned to Jamaica House, she will have to ensure that those who did not support her do not feel the sharp side of the political knife.

During her campaign, it was obvious that she was not enjoying the best of relationships with many sectors in the society, including the business community and the media. Should she get her mandate, we can only hope that she has no intention to declare open season on her detractors.

By the same token, Mr. Golding would need to understand that a victory for the JLP is not a licence for him to relegate all that is PNP to the rubbish heap. A win is not a free hand for Labourites to shaft Comrades, and they would be foolish in thinking otherwise. The country is yearning for a new brand of leadership that can bring us together instead of pulling us apart.

No time for petty politics

The Prime Minister will have to take the lead in helping the country to create that elusive Jamaican identity. There are too many different Jamaicas, with each one being suspicious of the next. The role of leaders is not to play upon those divisions, but to help to erase them.

This is not the time for petty politics. We cannot put the country to work and create opportunities for people without all hands being on deck. The election is over. There is a place here for the victor and the vanquished.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica now has a chance to lay down a new way of doing business in this country and the word has to be unity