Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

ARMED WITH with a vision, Dr Peter Phillips is on a mission that could cost him dearly. Win or lose, this is a challenge he has muscled up to face head on, despite loud and harsh criticisms from supporters of party president Portia Simpson Miller.

In six days, Phillips will face the queen of popularity and reputed champion of the poor in a match-up where the winner takes all. In this case, 'all' is the presidency of the People's National Party (PNP) and the title, Leader of Opposition.

battle, a cross he must bear

After a long stay in the political process, Phillips believes this battle is a cross that he must bear if the current course of the PNP is to change. He believes after 30 years in the party, at several different levels, he is well suited to succeed.

"My vision for the party is a PNP that is true to its traditions, a real vehicle for nation building and for the realisation of the hopes and aspirations of the ordinary Jamaicans," Phillips told The Sunday Gleaner during a recent interview before his party issued a gag order on all officials.

His detractors say his unprecedented challenge of a sitting president is disrespectful of Simpson Miller and an attempt by a group of 'so-called' intellectuals in the party who want to blame her for the election defeats last year.

"The decision (to challenge) wasn't caused so much by the loss, but by a careful evaluation by myself and other Comrades as to the erosion of the traditional precepts, values and organisational practices that have been typical of the PNP," Phillips said.

He accepts that the campaign has not focused on the issues as much as he would like and admits that the winner of next Saturday's election will have a difficult task in uniting the factions, which one commentator recently argued, were involved in a conflict and not a contest.

But for Phillips, that is a job from which he will not shy away if he receives the majority of votes.

"A leader must lead. The PNP has gone through presidential contests before: 1969 between Michael Manley and Vivian Blake; PJ Patterson and Portia Simpson in 1992.

"When you examine those, the winners accepted that they had a fundamental responsibility to administer the party without recriminations, without bitterness, and to extend the hand of friendship and embrace all elements in the party."

special welcome mat

Phillips knows that he will have to lay out a special welcome mat for Simpson Miller who defeated him and two other candidates, Dr Omar Davies and Dr Karl Blythe, in 2006, to become president of the party.

"She has been a long-serving member of the party, with tremendous knowledge of the politics, and she must be treated with the utmost respect and dignity and given all the privileges that reflect her service," Phillips said.

Political watchers are divided on the question of whether Simpson Miller, if defeated, would remain an active member of the PNP, and it is a question her team has so far refused to answer.

Phillips was no better, as his answer to the question provided little clarity on what role he would be willing to play if he fails to gain the majority of votes this time around.

"I have always said life to me is not about career, it is about service. I always intend to be of service to the Jamaican people," he commented.

While he was not expansive on his political future, if he is defeated, Phillips was clear on the several challenges facing the party that he would have to address if he wins.

At the top of the list is the perception that the PNP is synonymous with corruption.

"We need to face the issue immediately. We need to examine ourselves collectively and where it indicates that action is to be taken, we need to take that action.

"As you know, sometimes in politics, perception counts more than the reality and you also know that the perception won't continue if there is no reality behind it," Phillips added.

According to the former general secretary, the PNP has always been the conscience of Jamaica.

"It has always had the reputation of having an unsullied integrity and we need to ensure that the PNP is viewed by everyone in the same light as it was in the past," he stated,

Phillips was animated as he rejected claims that his election to the party's top would alienate grass-roots members of the party who have pledged their support to 'Sista P'.

"I don't know where that notion comes from. In the election of 2006, a little more than 200 votes separated us. The people who support me come from all walks of life and all sections of the society.

"My entire adult life has been spent with persons from all areas. At the university, I was involved in the Black Power Movement, I was involved in the Abeng Movement, in Rastafarianism, my experience has been with ordinary Jamaicans living, working, sharing vision from Brown's Town in east Kingston through to Trench Town, where the Ethiopian World Federation had its headquarters."

Those days, long gone, when Jamaicans could walk from east Kingston to Trench Town in south St Andrew without fear of criminals are part of what Phillips says he wants to return in his vision for Jamaica.

"I want a country where every Jamaican can realise their hopes, ambition and aspirations, where our children can get a good-quality education, where when you play by the rules, you will make advancement.

"Where we don't have the extremes of excessive wealth and depraved poverty co-existing, where social systems work, and where the justice system works fairly for everyone," Phillips added.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com