The Editor, Sir:

I would like to comment on the recent threats of street demonstrations by the People's National Party (PNP) over Prime Minister Bruce Golding's $21-billion tax package. Whatever the intent of the PNP's organising protests around Jamaica, the effect is largely counterproductive. Instead, we should see the opposition working with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government to fix Jamaica's problems.

I believe that Golding has been in a very tight situation as of late. I also believe that he is the right man for the job. Pressure has been coming from all angles at him regarding the economic instability of Jamaica. By any measure, the Bruce Golding administration inherited a fiscal mess from the PNP. Prime Minister Golding's economic record should be considered in light of the global financial crisis.

The PNP can't be proud of its achievements. The party lost its way on fiscal responsibility when they held the majority in Parliament during its 18 years in office. The financial panic gripping Jamaica right now, and threatening to throw the entire economy into a serious tailspin, was for the most part started by the PNP.

Frankly, with all the suffering and difficulties Jamaicans face, I find the PNP grandstanding annoying and sickening. The PNP has failed to exert bold leadership. Too often the party seems more focused on criticising its enemies than on conceptualising new policy objectives. Most disconcerting is the PNP's lack of fiscal leadership. Instead of going through a period of self-assessment, reappraisal, re-organization and thoughtful reconsideration of their views on the great issues of our time, party president, Portia Simpson Miller, has indulged in power envy and vicious internecine fighting and name calling.

Binary politics

If the PNP is to capture the hearts and minds of Jamaican voters, they must do more than run an endless loop of, "We're not as bad as they are." Binary politics got us in this mess, and tearing down your opponent doesn't make you a more capable leader.

And for the Jamaican voters today, the first vital fact is the nature and state of the opposition party that aspires to replace the existing majority. Rarely in the annals of Jamaican politics has an opposition party been less well prepared for governance than today's PNP. They have not used their 27 months in the wilderness constructively.

Riling up a crowd by stoking half-truths and division does go beyond the pale. Jamaicans are not fooled by false public relations campaigns. The true solution involves the JLP and the PNP working together to fix Jamaica's problems.

I am, etc.,

Neville Carnegie