Appendix; Keywords will be Keep or Dump. There will be a slot called Good at job, Last Chance Saloon and Rope to Hang Self. “Last chance saloon” means that they have been there a while not done much and need to start acting in this/next admin or be removed. “Rope to hang” means they are young, untested quantity and should be given a few goes to see if they are any good or should be dumped. Dumped can be broken down into non-preforming, bad reputation or incompetence. Each MP/Senator will be affixed either K or D along with LCS etc or NP etc to go as the description for why they are where they are.
Here is a more honest take on what I think of the current crop of MPs Senators and Caretakers
House
- Dr. Peter Phillips, St. Andrew East Central – Leader of the Opposition – Drop, he has failed at the ultimate hurdle and is now a detriment to the party
- Mr. Phillip Paulwell, Kingston East and Port Royal – Leader of Opposition Business – Drop, too tainted in the general publics eye. Needs to be pushed out before he takes up leadership and dooms the party.
- Mr. Mark Golding, St. Andrew South – Drop, no need for merchant bankers in a socialist party, but then again Engels was a factory baron so talk to in order to see where he stands before dropping
- Dr. Wykeham McNeill, Westmoreland Western – last chance to do something excellent for the parish and ensuring tourism benefits all
- Mr. Noel Arscott, Clarendon South Western – he is still around?
- Mr. Luther Buchanan, Westmoreland Eastern – why is he here? What does he offer except for a yes man and a place filler in a seat?
- Mr. Peter Bunting, Manchester Central – see Golding
- Mr. Dwayne Vaz, Westmoreland Central – Drop, why is he here? To sing Kartel on stage? To hold a seat?
- Dr. Angela Brown-Burke, St. Andrew South West – Drop, failed as councillor and mayor
- Mr. Colin Fagan, St. Catherine South Eastern – drop, was heard and seen at one point but isn’t anymore and didn’t have awesome ideas anyway, find fresh blood
- Dr. Fenton Ferguson, St. Thomas Eastern – drop, has not done jack in his area, has held portfolio of a ministry which has always been failing, new blood needed.
- Dr. Morais Guy, St. Mary Central – last chance, done nothing as an MP seems to have no ideas, keep for now while looking for a replacement
- Ms. Lisa Hanna, St. Ann South Eastern – keep, last chance though to do something serious with her charm and intelligence if she is to remain.
- Mr. Victor Wright Trelawny Northern – drop, need fresh blood with ideas, not heard not seen needs to go
- Mr. Ian Hayles, Hanover Western – Drop, has done nothing of note either for his constituency or in parliament, been there a while so he needs to go for fresh blood
- Ms. Denise Daley, St. Catherine Eastern – last chance, done nothing thus far as an MP, seems to have no ideas, if she cant shape up then ship her out
- Mr. Julian Robinson, St. Andrew South Eastern – Keep, failed as gen sec. was good as Jr minister, but failed to halt the insanity in his ministry which is felt today so last chance
- Mr. G. Anthony Hylton, St. Andrew Western – bum for his area, has ideas though, even if they do need more thrashing out he does know what he’s talking about. Last chance and no tears if he goes.
- Mr. Fitz Jackson, St. Catherine Southern – drop, clearly has ideas as the bank fees shows, but he has been no good as an MP and has shown that he isn’t up to a switch of portfolios (he has failed thus far as shadow security minister), maybe a posting out of frontline politics is the best option
- Mr. Derrick Kellier, St. James Southern – done nothing as an MP and nothing of note as a minister, drop
- Ms. Natalie Neita, St. Catherine North Central – last chance, bad MP, need more ideas from her or drop her
- Mr. Mikael Phillips, Manchester North Western – last chance, has ideas but one gets the vibe that he is there to continue the family business. Come with some red ideas or find a replacement soon
- Mr. Michael Stewart, Manchester Southern – drop, rarely heard if ever, seems to have no idea, seems to be there because someone had to be
- Mr. Robert Pickersgill, St. Catherine North Western – Ret.
- Mr. Evon Redman, St. Elizabeth North Eastern – what is he here for? Give it back to Raymond
- Rev. Ronald Thwaites, Kingston Central – Ret.
- Mr. Richard Azan, Clarendon North Western – drop, says nothing of note, does nothing of note excluding OCG action, waste of a seat
- Mr. Horace Dalley, Clarendon Northern – keep, does his job quietly, not necessarily a good thing. Last chance
- Dr. Dayton Campbell, St. Ann North Western – keep, young, has ideas, hot headed, loose tongue, last chance
Senate
- Senator Donna Scott-Mottley – Leader of Opposition Business – Keep, last chance, very good at her job but this is a socialist party until otherwise stated so more red stuff soon or be gone
- Senator the Hon. Keith D. Knight OJ, QC – drop, love the drama and intellect but time waits for no one
- Senator Damion Crawford – time came and went, find someone who is not a prima donna but a politician for the people
- Senator Dr. Floyd Morris – time has come and gone
- Senator Sophia Frazer-Binns – last chance
- Senator Lambert Brown – drop, place holder and joker
- Senator Wentsworth Skeffery – last chance, socialist party until otherwise stated so shape up or ship out
- Senator Dr. Andre Haughton – keep but watch closely, economists are cool and needed and what not, but what type of economist (Marxist, Keynesian Chicago, Austrian etc)
I am not enamoured by any of the lot, but they are here. If they slip up or fail to win then I would move them on.
CARETAKERS
Joan Gordon-Webley
- Valrie Neita -Robertson
- Dr Shane Alexis
- Wavel Hinds
- Andre Hylton
- Valentine Wint
- Ewan Stephenson
ONE PNP- Peter Phillips
- Phillip Paulwell – D, BR, GJ
- Natalie Neita – campaign chairman – D, NP
- Wykeham McNeill – K, GJ
- Mikael Phillips – K, RH,
- Dwayne Vaz – K, LCS, BR, NP
- Lisa Hanna – K, GJ, HI
- Dr Morais Guy – D, NP
- Denise Daley – D, NP
Anthony Hylton – K, NP, HI, GJ, LCS
RISE UNITED – Peter Bunting
- Mark Golding – campaign chairman – K, GJ, HI
- Dr Dayton Campbell- campaign manager – K, HI
- Angela Brown-Burke-campaign director – K, LCS
- Robert Pickersgill – D, BR, NP
- Ian Hayles – D, NP
- Luther Buchanan – D, NP
- Colin Fagan – K, LCS
- Michael Stewart – K, LCS
- Ronnie Thwaites – D, NP, BR
- Derrick Kellier – D, NP
- Noel Arscott – D NP
- Fenton Ferguson – D, NP, BR
The PNPs internal campaign to see who will become the leader of that party and face the JLP has been funny at times, cringe worthy at other times but all in all very underwhelming and fails to energise anyone outside the orange ranks.
Compare this to the JLP internal election (Andrew v Audley) which was funny, cringe worthy, informative and clearly an attempt to take the party down two new paths and thus energised the nation and we can see where both campaigns have failed already.
For my part neither faction seems to be serious about changing the party and unfortunately, based on who is supporting who, it looks like Bunting will be more of the same. You can’t go around saying that you are the agent of change, the paragon of virtue and the man to usher in a new era, and openly solicit support and accept support from individuals who are known to be of the old style. Actions matter in politics, more than intentions, and Andrew has many brownie points for sidelining and ushering out a lot of the JLP old guard/useless guard/corrupt guard. It matters not one jot if their replacements act in the same manner, and in this area Bunting has failed already.
In terms of ideas he is no different from the JLP. His lack of an ideological alternative, the negativity surrounding persons who back him (Pickersgill, Ferguson etc) coupled with the fact that the JLP will (if they have sense) call an early election which polls say they will win picking up some once safe PNP seats, creating more party turmoil. Bunting won’t have a long honeymoon period as party leader.
Peter Phillips remains a sad spectacle. If he were a boxer the Vegas Boxing Board would never give him a licence. His ideas, while good ,are old hash and need more thrashing out. Many of the things mentioned have been tried before and failed for many reasons. What is he proposing in the process that is different from the 70s? It is obvious that his allies are more like Grand Viziers and are now openly plotting his downfall/replacement or as is the case with the Gen Sec not nipping it in the bud and crafting a transition policy.
His reputation has taken a massive hit as even though he is incorruptible and has done well at all ministries, he has retained far too many people in shadow positions who have failed, while not forcing out other former ministers and Jr ministers who have failed and have taint around them.
All in all, Bunting is the obvious choice for the PNP (sad eh when Mr foot in mouth is the saviour?). I can’t state enough that Phillips, who only had one job and failed at it doesn’t seem to be learning. While Bunting may be more of the same, like Trump in 2016, people can delude themselves that because he wasn’t there as long as Phillips maybe he will act differently (I doubt it if one is looking at his supporters and his policies).
The solution to the ills of the PNP is simple: apologise for past ills and move people on. Golding showed that with the JLP (apologise), Andrew showed that (move people on). Neither were genuine in their actions but both in their ways saved the JLP from Jamaica Losing Party status. The image of the party is now radically different from the 90s and even though they are acting the same, people give them chances because they have done house painting (as opposed to cleaning).
At least one more and at most two more terms in opposition are on the cards, and this is needed before the party realises that it needs to do real soul searching and shake up the party. Not much surprise in the end that the party formed in the image of the UK Labour Party (Fabian) and followed closely (the right-wing winning out) is having the same issues and soul searching as them.
It will be a long ride and may in the end result in a split. However, the same questions from the 50s and the 70s (asked in different ways of course) are being presented. Are they a party of the people and thus blood red socialist (of whatever variation) or are they capitalists? If it’s socialism, come with the new ideas and be ready for the fight. If it is capitalist, then they will continue to cede ground to the JLP as there is no other home for left-wing people in Jamaica apart from the PNP and that will result in constant schism.
