Significant markers on election campaign

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Saturday | August 18, 2007

With the general election just over a week away, three developments have put markers on the process in separate ways. We refer to the political debates, the banning of political meetings in two troubled constituencies and the likely effect of the weather on the election date itself.

The first major hurricane of the season may be the more immediate concern, as an act of nature is not subject to constitutional edict. If Hurricane Dean does strike with disruptive force, it will underline the initial folly of setting the election date in th of the hurricane season.

There are, of course, powers available to the Governor-General to postpone the election for up to 30 days in these circumstances, depending on the extent of damage or dislocation of facilities or indeed, people's lives and property. Such a postponement would also have an effect on the political campaigning that the parties would feel necessary to make within the resources they command for such contingencies.

A lesser degree of political readjustment arises from the disturbances that have led to the banning of political meetings in two troubled constituencies - Western St. Thomas and South East St. Elizabeth.

The candidates involved have had to accept the decision of the Electoral Commission to ban political meetings and motorcades in both constituencies, a decision in consort with police, withholding permission for such activity.

This means that the rival candidates would have failed to exert the kind of influence needed to dissuade the more rabid of their supporters to keep the peace. The extent to which the political parties are still hostage to rank-and-file hostility is a troubling index of the degree to which political behaviour is still bogged down by crass attitudes of street-level immaturity.

In this connection, it is worth noting that tensions in the campaign have affected even genteel Mandeville in Manchester, with a street clash between rival factions on Thursday.

The third factor leading up to election day has been the staging of three national debates which have elicited a range of reactions from political analysts and commentators. Most have given the edge to the JLP debaters, especially in the finale between the party leaders Mrs. Simpson Miller (PNP) and Mr. Bruce Golding (JLP). Reactions from other observers have been mostly influenced by partisan leanings, none more so than the bizarre affirmation by PNP General Secretary Donald Buchanan that Mrs. Simpson Miller overwhelmed Mr. Golding in every aspect of their debate. Mr. Buchanan's verdict ran counter to most other appraisals and owed more to sycophancy than hard-nosed political analysis.

In general terms, there seems to be an acceptance that such debates have become a necessary aspect of political exchange that can inform the electorate on the issues more than the emotional ranting from the platforms on the hustings.

So, even as the country braces for the potential onslaught of Hurricane Dean, it is important that the more mature aspects of the election campaign be demonstrated in the management of events associated with the storm. We can ill afford any repeat of the 'hurricane politics' of the recent past.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.