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Don't change course, Madam PM
Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Tuesday | July 31, 2007
I enjoy going to political meetings. I find them a great source of entertainment. Last week, I took the opportunity of attending a mass meeting that the People's National Party (PNP) staged in Hanover and I got more than my fair share of laughs.
Roger Clarke, Minister of Agriculture, is undoubtedly the star of the PNP show at these mass gatherings. The portly candidate for Central Westmoreland knows how to whip his audience into a frenzy.
Last week, he had comrades in stitches with his jabs at the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). His quip that the JLP has promised to air-condition all of Santa Cruz if it is elected, continues to be a hit on the campaign trail.
Dull cast
It was a splendid performance by the Agriculture Minister, but sadly most of the other members of the PNP main cast, including Portia Simpson Miller, were quite dull.
Ian Hayles, the candidate for West Hanover, was the only other speaker who made a real connection with the audience there.
The former JLP man gave a good political speech which was aimed at convincing supporters that he was a genuine Comrade who had strayed but was now back home. I can see him developing into a fine platform speaker or maybe it's just something about youth and freshness that connects with people.
Dr D.K. Duncan, who is the other PNP candidate running in Hanover, was a positive flop. It's almost as though he was a shadow. He seemed out of place. He didn't have a connection with the audience and they didn't have a connection with him.
He tried to explain why the PNP is the party of change yet it was not changing course. That was not only mission impossible but it ended up sounding like a political lecture.
The entire episode was painful. From where I stood, it seemed comrades felt they had been put out of misery at the end of the good dentist's speech.
Dr Duncan, in recent years, has been an advocate of 'freeing up the political space' in Jamaica and yet he makes the decision to come back into active politics. I'm not sure what to make of it.
I wasn't impressed with the Prime Minister's performance last week eithe to be fair I'm scarcely ever impressed with the Prime Minister when she addresses these meetings.
Irresponsible
She was in a fighting mood when she told comrades that she would be "drawing a line" in relation to peace talks with the JLP.
The Prime Minister said she would not be having any talks with the JLP leadership unless they were being mediated by the Political Ombudsman or the Church. That did not sound responsible to me and I am glad to see that the JLP has criticised her on the issue.
Mrs. Simpson Miller is not just the president of the PNP she is also the Prime Minister of all Jamaica and we do not expect her to pick up her marbles if she thinks the game is not going her way.
She has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring peace and security for this land - not the Church and not the Political Ombudsman.
She must never give the impression that she would be willing to withdraw from efforts to find a solution to the political violence and bad behaviour that trouble us as a country.
When it comes to talks about ensuring peace for Jamaica, the Prime Minister should not change course.
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