Vernon Daley

I stood in court last week as Chief Justice Zaila McCalla ruled that a by-election be held in the West Portland constituency. A chill ran down my spine because I knew it meant that this country could be plunged into another period of intense political activity.

Elections in Jamaica are often accompanied by bad things, including violence. It seems to me that the fewer elections we have, the better.

The chief justice ruled that Daryl Vaz had, by his own act, sworn allegiance to a foreign power and, therefore, his nomination to become a member of parliament violated the Constitution and was void ab initio. She went on to say the seat should not be turned over automatically to the People's National Party's (PNP) Abe Dabdoub, but instead there should be a by-election.

Daunting thought

If the ruling had come three years into the life of this administration, it perhaps would not have caused any real troubles, but given that it's only months since we have emerged from two years of non-stop political campaigning, the thought of going through another election right now is daunting.

In early 2006, we had the bitter leadership struggle in the PNP to determine who should be president and prime minister. That matter was settled with Portia Simpson Miller securing victory over her main rival Dr Peter Phillips but as soon as she took office a new round of political activity started with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) rolling out its campaign for change.

After months of campaigning, characterised by a fair bit of drama and far too much violence, we finally had the elections on September 3 which brought the JLP to government. Even that wasn't an end to the politicking because we then went into a local government elections in December.

Having lived through all that political madness, many Jamaicans are simply tired and burnt out by politics. Still, with court cases pending against about three JLP MPs who are said to be in the same situation as Vaz, there is the possibility that we could be faced with a series of by-elections or an early general election.

Any kind of contested election at this point would be a distraction from real issues. What we need is an election deal between the two major political parties to help us through this tough period of rising food and energy prices and a runaway murder rate.

Two-seat majority remains

In this deal between the parties, the JLP would ask all its MPs who might have non-Commonwealth dual citizenship to resign their seats. Prime Minister Bruce Golding would then call by-elections for those constituencies, but as part of this pact the PNP would agree not to challenge the JLP's nominees for those seats. This means that the JLP's two-seat majority in the House would remain.

For its part, the JLP would give the assurance to the PNP and the country that there would not be a general election in less than two years, barring extraordinary circumstances.

Not prepared

This agreement would ensure that the Constitution is upheld while at the same time giving the PNP enough time to settle its internal differences so it can become a viable government-in-waiting. The Opposition is not prepared for an election at this point and neither is the country. People want to see the PNP rebuild itself even as the JLP is offered a real opportunity to try its hand at government.

Political parties are in the business of winning elections, but that's not only what they are about. They are vehicles through which the lives of people might be improved and sometimes that can best be done through cooperation rather than competition.

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