On the 29th
of December, 2011, we witnessed the People’s National Party (PNP)
in Jamaica command a landslide victory against the Jamaican Labour Party
(JLP) in the country’s 16th general elections since Jamaicans
were able to vote for the first time in 1944. The elections came
at a time when there were growing concerns among the electorate as the
country’s national debt climbed to approximately 130% of its Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), a reported 12-13% unemployment rate, high crime
rate, budget overrun on road works and corruption at the government
level including the most recent scandal of the JLP government
and its connection to Christopher ‘Dudes’ Coke, that led former
Prime Minister Goulding to step down in favour of the now defeated Prime
Minister Andrew Holness.
More than 1.6 million
Jamaicans cast their votes in a hotly contested election, which opinion
polls had suggested would be close. The Jamaican Gleaner, the
country’s oldest daily even went as far to predict a victory in favour
of the JLP suggesting a 34-29 win. However, the PNP under the
leadership of 66 year old Portia Simpson-Miller returned to power after
a close defeat in the 2007 general elections, taking 41 of the 63 available
seats in Parliament, the remainder going to the JLP and no seats going
to independents or third parties. The number of constituencies
and available parliamentary seats in Jamaica were increased from an
even number of 60 to an odd number of 63 in order to prevent a
potential deadlock – a decision that may not have been unconnected
to the close elections in 2007. In light of the foregoing and looking
closer on the home front, one cannot help but ask why Prime Minister
Ingraham and the Boundaries Commission agreed to a reduction of seats
from an odd number of 41 to an even number of 38. Considering
the closeness of our 2007 general elections and slim margins of victories
by candidates seeking parliamentary seats, the wisdom of maintaining
an odd number of constituencies should have been taken into consideration
and ultimately prevailed. At the very least, there should have been
a minimum of 39 parliamentary seats to offer for in the next general
elections. However, as we have witnessed the events unfold over
the past few weeks and played out in the press, politics seems to have
overridden any sense of logic.
Nevertheless, the
challenges plaguing Jamaica are similar to those that we are faced with
here in The Bahamas. Voters are intelligent enough to recognise that
the entire world has fallen victim to this global economic and financial
crisis. However, the electorate is not buying the use of the aforesaid
as a valid excuse for things being the way they are – an excuse which
governments around the world have politicized and are selling to their
citizens. The Jamaican elections were a prime example of the often
underestimated wisdom and sophisticated knowledge of the 21st
century voter. Just a short few months ago, Jamaica’s Minister
of Transport and Works for the (former) ruling JLP government in Jamaica,
Mike Henry had to resign his post for cost overruns and mismanagement
of a $400 million roadwork construction program in Jamaica. As the
funds were the result of a loan extended by the People’s Republic
of China, disgruntled taxpayers and the opposition PNP were obviously
not pleased with how the funds were being squandered so negligently
during a time when the economy was and still is in such a depressed
state. In hindsight, their discontent was clearly a prelude of
things to come based upon the election results. The JLP seemed to have
been negligent as it related to addressing the economic needs of the
Jamaican people, which prompted their bosses - the voting population
to reward them by sending a clear message to the JLP of what they felt
about the last 5 years of JLP governance. Faced with a similar
scenario, the Bahamian people may follow in like manner at the polls
in 2012 after experiencing unprecedented high levels of crime that has
unfortunately increased tremendously over the past 5 years and continuous
loss of jobs with no hopes for new ones to be created. As a result
the estimated unemployment rate has climbed to more than 18%.
To make matters worse, we are experiencing an increase in the closure
of small & medium sized businesses and have had to watch with great
agony the foreclosures of a multitude of Bahamian homes and properties.
Moreover, there’s an increasing perception that negligent spending
of the tax-payers funds has helped push the debt to GDP ratio to more
than 40% and the deficit to more than 4 billion dollars. This
added to an increase in social problems no doubt stemming from the aforementioned
issues, adds to a laundry list of off items including an alarming high
school drop-out rate that continues to increase, a national grade point
average of “D”, a rise in teenage pregnancy cases, domestic violence,
child molestation, recidivism among former inmates, increased illegal
immigration and gun and firearms trafficking; all of which this government
seems to have little or no answers to address.
The problems facing
our nation are serious and should not be overshadowed by petty politics.
We are on a downward spiral that will lead us on a continuous path of
destruction if an urgent intervention is not undertaken. We have
witnessed over these past 5 years that the current government has been
hard-pressed to find solutions to the myriad problems that our nation
is faced with. The government and its public relations machinery
on the other hand is saying, do you see this and do you see that; pointing
to the various capital projects and expenditure initiated by the government
during the last 5 years. Like the average Bahamian, I recognise
the importance of capital projects such as the roads, the new straw
market, the acquisitions of buildings for government agencies and multiple
projects left on the table by the former PLP government between 2002
- 2007, such as the Nassau Airport Development, Baha Mar, Thomas A.
Robinson stadium and so on and so forth . However, the question remains
as to whether these individuals recognise the thousands of Bahamians
struggling to make ends meet each day and whether they are sensitised
to the amount of children unable to attend school because their parents
cannot afford uniforms, lunch and/or supplies. We must acknowledge that
several Bahamian families are growing hungry each day due to the continuous
increase in the cost of bread basket items as their purchasing power
continues to decrease due to inflation alongside the reality of minimal
or non-existent increase in salaries. One only needs to look around
to see the thousands of Bahamian businesses that are shutting down largely
in part due to the negligent mismanagement of road works, high cost
of energy and increased taxes to operate a business in an already depressed
economy.
These plights are
added to the many Bahamians that are going homeless each day as they
lose their homes to foreclosures. The economies of our family islands
are depressed as the government has failed to diversify our economy
and effectively develop these islands – the biggest victim of this
depression being the second capital city of Grand Bahama, whose woes
unfortunately seem to have no end. The multiple downgrades of our nation’s
economy in 2011 by international rating agencies do not provide a positive
outlook for our nation and offer a bleak picture for the future unless
viable solutions are forthcoming.
In the final analysis,
the Jamaicans rejected the PNP in 2007 just like the Bahamians rejected
the PLP in 2007, but that’s the unique beauty of democracy that we
in the English speaking Caribbean are proud of which has significantly
contributed to the progress of our nation. The question remains however,
will the Bahamian people just like their Jamaican counterparts vote
the PLP back into power? Time will tell, the clock is ticking and the
countdown has already begun.
Arinthia S.
Komolafe is an Attorney-at-law. Comments can be directed at arinthia.komolafe@komolafelaw.
com.