If that twenty three minute long
inauguration address by the newly installed Prime Minister Andrew Holness is
anything to go by, it would indicate that we will see a new way of governance.
The speech was a call
to action, one that is telling us that there is no time for complacency but a
time to get the work done. The word ‘partnership’
resonated throughout the entire presentation, partnership with the private
sector, with the opposition and with the people of Jamaica, because only
through effective partnerships will this government achieve its goal of prosperity.
A section of the speech that also stood
out for me was when he said ‘there is no
majority for arrogance, there is no space
for selfishness, there is no place for
pettiness, there is no room for
complacency and there is no margin for
error. This has been an issue with
successive governments; they get complacent and arrogant, thus, loses sight of
the real reason why the people gave them the power to govern.
The Opposition
With our Westminster
system of government the opposition tends to feel that their duty is to oppose,
especially when they have strength in numbers.
The truth is that sometimes you cannot place blame squarely at the feet
of the opposition as no one enters the race to be in opposition but instead to
form the government. I realize that Mr.
Holness has extended the olive branch to Mrs. Simpson Miller the leader of the
People’s National Party and who is set to be Leader of the Opposition. The challenge now is whether the opposition will
answer the call to assist this new government in continuing the business of the
country. The opposition will not sit idly by and not be the watch dog of the
government. However what is important is
that we have an opposition that will not oppose for opposing sake but one that
will assist in the process of nation building.
The people of Jamaica will be watching and will determine when the
opposition is working in the interest of Jamaica and when they are just
opposing for opposing sake. Let me also
commend the People’s National Party for its stewardship of the country over the
last 4 years, the handling of Jamaica’s International Monetary Fund deal was
good and great strides were also made in the area of justice, education,
transportation and technology. We also received favourable ratings from rating
agencies the likes of Moody's and Standard and Poor's.
Andrew Holness
The Andrew Holness we
see today is a different individual from the one we saw in 2011, looking back
one can now say the leadership race has made him stronger. Mr. Holness faced serious blocks and had
issues communicating with the people, his speeches were always too long and
after the first ten minutes he loses his audience. What is evident now is that
we have an Andrew Holness who listened, he listened to the criticism and went
back to the drawing board and did his homework.
What we have today is a leader who goes on a platform and easily
communicates with the people, a leader who can speak for twenty three minutes
and strike the right tone and the right cord.
The Real Work
The international
market is accustomed to the People’s National Party not necessarily because
they are better but because they have been in government much longer than the
Jamaica Labour Party. Mr. Holness now
has the task of moving briskly to show the IMF that his government will
continue to be fiscally responsible. The region and by extension the world has
Jamaica under high surveillance, the IMF currently have us as the poster child
because of our skillful handling of the deal.
The multilaterals must be our friend, the rating agencies will be inspecting,
any error and the rating agencies may downgrade us and then investor confidence
will fall. Our economy is too fragile for a downgrade or a dip in investor
confidence. Mr. Holness must also continue with the Economic Partnership
Oversight Committee, let Richard Byles continue to lead the charge; this will
send a positive message to the market that the government is about continuity.
Leaders have a
tendency to strike the right tone during inauguration address but fail to
deliver; I go back to address of Bruce Golding in 2007 and Portia Simpson
Miller in 2012. Both leaders gave excellent presentations but did not get the
chance to follow through on the promises made albeit not totally their fault;
sometimes due the volatility of Jamaican politics they lose track of the
vision. Mr. Holness now has the unenviable
task of fulfilling his promises; it is even harder for him considering his one
seat majority in the Parliament. The
real test for him is to get the promises done while managing his government and
also dealing with a parliament where the line of division is so thin.
