Cedric Wilson, Contributor
Roger Clarke is a politician nobody can easily overlook. And it is not just because his tailor needs twice as much cloth to make him a suit as he would for the average man his height - but of far more significance is Clarke's natural talent for communication.
His speech is often sprinkled with witticism and earthy humour. He understands the power of metaphors and how to project them on to the collective imagination of his audience; he is adept at mobilising the Jamaican Patois and deploying it with maximum effect to drive home a point; however, in recent times, his flair for communication has made him a favourite among the cartoonists and has raised questions about his relevance on the political landscape.
Clarke has been a member of parliament since 1993 and has confessed to some half a century of involvement with the People's National Party (PNP). For a very long time during the last PNP administration he served as minister of agriculture; however, under his watch, the agriculture sector saw no transformation. In fact, while he was minister, the relative contribution of the sector to the national economy continued the downward trend that had begun before his arrival.
Yet, few if any, will deny that he is not a man of the people. As a minister, the small farmers were always comfortable with him. On one occasion when there was a surplus of beef on the market, even though nutrition experts and health gurus the world over inveighed against red meat, the minister stood with cattle farms. After alluding somewhat to the virtues of that meat source, he insisted that Jamaicans were not "eating enough beef". The minister also supported the idea of integrating the agricultural sector more deeply into the economy. This was evident, some time ago, when he endorsed the concept of using bamboo to make low-income houses.
Even before the emergence of the current global food crisis, Clarke believed that there was need for greater self-sufficiency in agriculture. For him, the demand for food was too closely linked to Jamaicans' inordinate appetite for foreign goods. In one of his more memorable speeches, Clarke's solution was simple: "If you grow yam, then nyam yam."
Yet, agriculture has not been the only subject to occupy his oratory. In what is arguably his most entertaining delivery, he addressed the theme of the improvement in the standard of living of Jamaicans. He suggested that the availability of cellphones reflected qualitative improvements which allowed people to own more than one phone. And as such, they could call themselves on one phone and use the another phone to answer themselves - "Hello ... Hello."
Leadership rivalry
More recently, after Peter Phillips declared that he would challenge Portia Simpson Miller for the PNP presidency, Clarke assumed the role of the Jeremiah of the party. He predicted that the leadership rivalry could destroy the party. "When two elephants fight," he warned, "the grass dies." However, some political pundits contend that the leadership challenge may be healthy for the party's democracy and presents an opportunity for renewal. There are others who have gone further to suggest that the elephant parable use by Clarke, who is an unwavering Simpson Miller supporter, reflects more his fears for a change in leadership than a tendency towards destructive disunity. But whether these analyses are correct, there are some indications that Clarke should have stuck to his decision a couple of years ago to resign from active politics.
It started in 2003 when he lost his position as vice-president of the party and he wept publicly. What did Patterson, the party president at the time, do? Consoled Clarke and gave him the dubious title of vice-president emeritus - whatever that is. This development in party politics appears to parallel the notion that Caribbean economists refer to as 'disguised unemployment'.
Later, Clarke vowed not to be engaged in representative politics during the 2007 election, making room for the young, enthusiastic Kern Spencer to run in the North East St Elizabeth constituency - a seat he had held for 14 years. But then he had a change of heart when Simpson Miller became president of the party. The door was already closed for him to represent his old constituency, so he had to contest the seat in Central Westmoreland. He won. However, there were aspects of his campaign in which his oratory was a little less noble than what his audiences normally associated with him. His message was vitriolic and divisive. A power-starved Jamaica Labour Party, he warned, would "rape" the country if elected as the government. His rhetoric drew the condemnation of a number of his colleagues.
Unbending loyalty
And now as the PNP prepares for presidential elections, Clarke's elephant parable has catapulted him into the spotlight and repeatedly, he has had to define, clarify and defend his position. Clarke is the sort of person you want to have as friend, or a neighbour. Clearly, he is a man of solid devotion and unbending loyalty. Politically, he does not come across as a man who is seriously interested in abstract thinking, neither does he appear to be inclined to take on anything that is technically complex. He is instinctual and his oratory spontaneous. As such, his utterances are seldom the product of deep, private reflection. It is in this respect that it is not difficult to understand why he is losing his appeal. The political reality around him has changed; he is trying to adapt, but he is out of step with his time. Perhaps somebody should tell him that elephants do fight in the jungle and maybe it's time to leave.
Cedric Wilson is an economics consultant who specialises in market regulations. Send your comments to: conoswil@hotmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.
