Did Portia flip or flop?

Published in the Jamaican Gleaner: Tuesday | August 28, 2007

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller had her first real national crisis to deal with in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean and the question is whether she flipped or flopped.

If media reports are to be believed, it would seem that the Prime Minister lost her cool when she was nudged by election officials and some members of her Cabinet to go with September 3 as the new date for the election.

Did the Prime Minister really 'flip out' on Maxine Henry-Wilson over a release from the Education Ministry which confirmed reports of the new date even before a decision had been made by Cabinet?

Donald Buchanan, the Information Minister, says there is no truth to rumours that there was division in Cabinet over the election date. However, this is the same Donald Buchanan who told us that the Prime Minister outperformed Opposition Leader Bruce Golding in the recently held political debates. Can we rely on his word?

The new date has doubtless upset the Prime Minister's fascination with the number seven and now there is no telling whether she can see her way clearly.

Reassurance

In the wake of the disaster, I got a sense from Mrs. Simpson Miller that she was genuinely concerned about the impact of the storm on the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable. She clearly wanted to do her best to help. That reassurance from a leader is important, but it is not enough. It has to be backed up by competent management.

Unfortunately, the overall handling of the disaster was marred by chaos and uncertainty, and for that the Prime Minister has to be considered a flop on the management of her first real national crisis. This would have delivered a withering blow to those who were hoping she would shine.

One of the major weaknesses in this whole business was the failure of the Prime Minister, as the head of government, to be in constant communication with Jamaicans to let us know what her administration was doing, how it was going about it, and what were the results we could expect.

This failure was most evident when the Prime Minister sidestepped the issue of the election date during her address to the nation after the hurricane. I still cannot see how she could have ignored dealing with that matter when it was one of the most pressing matters before the nation.

Another major issue was the state of public emergency which was declared during the hurricane. Given the sensitive nature of that act, greater care ought to have been taken in ensuring that people knew what it was about, why it was being done and how their rights would have been affected. Unlike some, I saw nothing sinister in the declaration but it was poorly handled and, therefore, rightly came under severe criticism.

The Portia factor

The media have played a fantastic role in putting pressure on the government at every turn to account for its actions. That is how it should be. People who offer themselves to take on the tough task of running a country need to be clear about what they are doing, especially in times of crisis.

By the way, these days I haven't heard too much about the Portia factor from political commentators. Is it still an issue in this election or has the magic dissipated? Some analysts are already saying it was a mistake for the People's National Party to hinge its campaign on the popularity of its leader instead of presenting a team of capable people. I suppose we'll find our answers on the other side of September 3.