Robert Buddan, ContributorA NUMBER of new Members of Parliament are reportedly frustrated, feeling powerless in opposition and the backbench of Parliament. Some say they do not intend to return after the next elections. The media report that as many as 10 of 16 new MPs might not. Both Peter Bunting and Danny Melville quit Parliament for the same reason.
It does not help political morale when the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and the media take a broad swipe against politicians for supposedly aiding and abetting criminals, or when MPs are earning less than they earned in their private careers. Nor does it help when constituents constantly badger MPs for handouts and when society displays general disrespect for the authority of the MP.
Their frustration is understandable, but unfortunate at a time that the party system is undergoing generational replenishment. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has a younger leader and the People's National Party (PNP) will have one soon. This makes it vital that the more energetic and visionary members of the next generation of parliamentarians not lose faith too quickly. They might now have the best chance yet of making the changes they want.
By one argument, these MPs should really be more effective at representing the people. Free of ministerial responsibility, they can concentrate on representing constituencies, and political reformers believe this is precisely why the executive should appoint a Cabinet independent of the legislature. This would also allow ministers the freedom to concentrate on executive responsibilities.
LEADERSHIP AND POWERLESSNESS
The MPs say, however, that they lack resources and always have to go begging government to satisfy constituents. Caught between parliamentary marginalisation and fiscal constraints, they feel their ambitions for good cannot be realised. Political leadership on both sides needs to find ways to re-build political morale and employ talents effectively. For a start, these MPs might take inspiration from their predecessors.
Norman Manley built the first civil society welfare network when his party had no power in government. Alexander Bustamante organised the trade union movement even before he had a party. Manley was not a member of the legislature for the first 11 years of the PNP's life and Bustamante made it six years after starting public life. They were hardly idle or powerless in those years.
When they entered the legislature, they lacked the full powers of government but they did not complain about being powerless. Norman Manley was never even Prime Minister of Jamaica and the aged and weary Bustamante was only active for a few years in that capacity. Yet, they had a phenomenal impact upon politics and society. What they had was energy, commitment and attitudes of sacrifice.
Their generation laid the basis for modern Jamaica in spite of a colonial system that was the literal embodiment of 'winner takes all'. Colonial authorities controlled all aspects of government. Locals, left in the political wilderness, responded by self-help. They organized the early versions of the Jamaica agricultural society, teachers' union, trade unions, and movements for national and racial identity and self-government.
When the Westminster system came along, it undermined much of this kind of social and community activism. Parties came to feel that their role should centre on Parliament. Democracy became parliamentary substituting for community democracy.
Even so, it has never been true that the parliamentary opposition is powerless. Both PNP and JLP oppositions have had enormous influence redefining and shaping legislation and final policy. Oppositions really complain about not having their way more of the time. This is true for oppositions in presidential and parliamentary systems. It is not unique to the Westminster system.
Constituency leaders must determine the real source of their 'powerlessness', whether it really lies in the party and the constituency organisation as against Parliament. Surely, it lies in all three. But, it is disingenuous to blame powerlessness entirely on the Westminster parliamentary structure and the supposed concentration of power in the Prime Minister.
Manley and Bustamante did more for people outside government than the colonial authorities did in government. They did not entirely rely on the institutions of government to empower them. They were social and labour activists first and only parliamentarians after. They later employed Parliament for more good whether in government or opposition. They relied on persuasion and organisation in and outside of Parliament.
POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT
Sometimes parties take to the streets to mobilise power instead of working through Parliament or their constituencies. Last week, farmers' organisations and civil society groups from the eastern Caribbean held mass demonstrations in St. Lucia where European Union negotiators were meeting with regional trade ministers to cut banana prices. Considering that sugar and banana workers made up the backbone of the early JLP, that party should direct its anger against the EU agricultural regime by mobilising people in sugar and banana constituencies instead of wasting its energy in the demonstrations against unavoidable oil-related cost of living increases.
An opposition party in Grenada recently sent a delegation to China to secure help for Grenada's education, agriculture, and industrial development. The JLP must look to build similar constructive local and international partnerships for Jamaica in preparation for governing. It cannot be narrowly local and oppositional. For example, earlier this year, the PNP sent a delegation to Germany to study their system of campaign finance regulation. The JLP, though invited, did not participate.
I believe there was an understanding between the PNP and JLP that a member of the Opposition would be invited on overseas delegations to gain exposure to international issues and facilitate consensus on how to approach global issues affecting Jamaica. This is a good idea and, in the spirit of inclusion, the Prime Minister convened a CARICOM conference this year at which opposition parties in the region were invited. The JLP must undertake international initiatives to be relevant. It cannot blame the Westminster system for failing to do so.
HELPING CONSTITUENCIES
How does this help constituency representation? One of the best examples of constructive opposition was Ernie Smith's (JLP) presentation in the sectoral debate of 2004. He made a special case for bauxite parishes, arguing specifically that companies might actually owe J$1.6 billion in fines for failure to adequately rehabilitate mined out bauxite lands. Class action suits on behalf of constituents can provide significant funds for constituency development.
The best example of political entrepreneurship I can think of is Norman Manley's agreement with the banana multinational, United Fruit Company, by which the company agreed to pay a half-penny on every bunch of bananas exported, to a social fund. It was this fund that created Jamaica Welfare, responsible for building numerous community-based organisations for community crime-fighting, skills training, family planning, assistance for the young, handicapped and aged, disaster preparedness, literacy classes, among others.
The British did not transfer democracy to Jamaica. Jamaicans had to fight for their rights. Parliamentary democracy is mainly democracy for parliamentarians. Democracy means returning to the tradition of community self-help where leaders and people can really discover the true source of empowerment. To complain about being powerless in Parliament is to miss this point.
The Jamaican (and Caribbean) Member of Parliament must be a political entrepreneur. He must know how to invest and convert political capital to realize social and economic benefits for his constituents. The Westminster system cannot be used as an excuse for powerlessness. The real problem might lie in the party's constituency organisation and lack of imaginative leadership.
Send your comments to robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm or infocus@gleanerjm.com
