Robert Pickersgill - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Nine months after People's National Party (PNP) President Portia Simpson Miller conceptualised a platform dubbed the 'Progressive Agenda', party insiders are complaining that her vision's gestation period appears to be far from over.

Even as party members grumble that the Progressive Agenda remains elusive, undefined and vague, senior leadership figures are maintaining that the vision is alive and well.

"The Progressive Agenda is not dead," declared PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill. "It's progressing but it's being derailed somewhat by the frequent by-elections."

Questioned about the party's priorities at this juncture, Pickersgill said the PNP had no control over its current agenda.

"We can't always set our agenda. Sometimes the agenda is set for us. Take the constitutional challenges, for example, we just have to go with the flow."

A debate is raging within the party over whether it should throw in the towel, in respect of the remaining by-elections, and focus on rebuilding its shattered image. Insiders say the party is in a lose-lose situation as it is being demolished in the by-elections while its internal machinery continues to be neglected.

"Yes and no," Pickersgill responded in reference to whether the vision of the Progressive Agenda was being adequately packaged and presented to the party's membership.

He explained that the implementation involved several processes.

"We are working on a policy from bottom up, not top down," he asserted.

Accordingly, Pickersgill contended that the issues associated with the Progressive Agenda must be "comprehensively discussed and distilled" by the various group structures within the party.

"We have to formulate and flesh out the variables to ensure that the outcomes are measurable," he added.

The PNP chairman said reports had so far been presented to the National Executive Council, as well as the party's Council of Spokespersons.

Evidence

In echoing many of the sentiments expressed by Pickersgill, Anthony Hylton, the man assigned the task of leading the process, yesterday produced evidence that the commission he headed refused to be dislocated by electoral distractions.

"There is some truth to that," he admitted, referring to mumblings in the party about the slow progress of the Progressive Agenda. "But we have not dropped the ball ... . We understand the impatience and the anxiety among members, but that is good, as it shows real interest in the way ahead."

Communications pamphlets

Armed with the first in what is to be a series of communications pamphlets, which the party executive was scheduled to vet late yesterday, Hylton showcased a colourful array of question-and-answer documents he claimed were to be a main feature in the party's consultative process, as well as the draft framework of the Progressive Agenda.

Another dimension of the consultative process is a series of fora. Hylton told The Gleaner that the PNP would be convening a forum on the economy on July 18. The economy is one of the five pillars on which the Progressive Agenda reportedly stands. The others are human-resource development, a safe and just society, participation, accountability responsibility, given the acronym PAR, and progressive internationalism.

"We have built a framework focusing on five pillars, which is being discussed," Hylton asserted. "It is a rigorous exercise involving all the internal party organs, so it will take some time as it is process driven."

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com