Former Senate president says Hanna needs to resolve discord in her constituency

Former Senate President Floyd Morris has declared his support for Mark Golding as the next president of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), describing the St Andrew Southern Member of Parliament (MP) as a consensus-builder who can work with different individuals to get things done.

“This is a quintessential trait of a strategic leader and one that is needed for the PNP at this time,” Morris said in a column which will be published in full in tomorrow’s Daily Observer.

Morris, who last week penned a column in which he did a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of Golding and Lisa Hanna, the other contender for the presidency, argued that the new PNP leader “must be able to get all the different groups under the big tent and start the process of reunification”.

Delegates of the 82-year-old party will, on November 7, vote to replace Dr Peter Phillips who submitted his resignation as PNP president after the September 3 General Election in which the PNP was humiliated 14-49 seats by the Jamaica Labour Party.

In recent weeks, prominent delegates and officers of the party have been declaring support for either candidate, and just last Friday a quarrel erupted in the PNP Youth Organisation (PNPYO) over which of the two has majority support in the youth arm.

In a video released Friday, PNPYO General Secretary Dexroy Martin said he and 13 other delegates from the party’s youth arm are backing Golding. However, that claim was challenged by PNPYO Kingston Parish Chair Kedron Allen.

“There are 21 delegates currently from the YO who are able to vote, and to say that 14 of them are supporting Comrade Golding is erroneous and not factual,” Allen told the Jamaica Observer.

Noting the disunity in the PNP, which has been blamed as a factor in the general election loss, Morris — who had backed Phillips when his presidency was challenged last year by then Manchester Central MP Peter Bunting — said his decision to support Golding, who had sided with Bunting, was based on his assessment that the organisational imperative for the PNP now was unification.

“There are a number of groupings in the PNP which are rotated around personalities, rather than ideas. This is eating away at the potential of the organisation,” said Morris.

“It has long been established that when the PNP is united it is an unstoppable force. So even if the leader is popular, as seen in 2006 with the election of Comrade Portia Simpson Miller as president, the movement will not win an election if there are deep internal divisions,” he added.

Morris pointed to Golding’s performances in the Senate and as a government minister, and said his character and integrity will aid in the rebuilding of public trust in politicians.

According to Morris, his reason for not throwing his support behind Hanna is rooted in her failure to resolve the differences she has with PNP supporters in her St Ann South Eastern constituency.

“Various attempts have been made to solve the problems, but to no effect. As the leader for the constituency, Lisa should have demonstrated greater rapprochement with the Comrades to settle the problems bedevilling the constituency for the past 10 years. This has not been done, and a constituency that has been most loyal and faithful to the PNP since Adult Suffrage has become marginal under Lisa’s stewardship,” Morris wrote.

His reference was to the fact that Hanna, who has been accused of being divisive, held on to the seat in the September 3 General Election by a mere 31 votes over Delroy Granston, a newcomer to politics, who was placed in the race just over two weeks before the election.

“Lisa has to be accountable for this,” Morris said. “When she took over the constituency in 2007, the PNP still had a comfortable margin of over 2,000 votes.”

The new PNP president, he argued, will be required to traverse the island and assist in rebuilding the party. “Significant work needs to be done over the next few years to rebuild the party and capacitate the workers of the movement. How does Lisa purport to do this when St Ann South Eastern is under significant threat? And, what will she do with those Comrades with whom she has had significant disagreement over the years? Will they be pushed out of the PNP under her leadership of the national organisation? These are Comrades that Lisa went to the constituency and saw in 2007 and were there before her entrance working with Seymour Mullings and Aloun Assamba. They and their families have built up that constituency as a bastion for the organisation over the years, and the moment they withdrew their support, because of the imbroglio with Lisa, we have seen the lowest margin of victory for the PNP in the constituency,” Morris argued.

He said he did not arrive at his decision easily, as Golding was instrumental in Bunting’s challenge to Phillips that “intensified the deep divisions affecting the party and contributed to Bunting’s defeat in Manchester Central”.

However, someone has to break the “inter-generational cycle of bitterness” affecting the party, he said, adding, “This is not the PNP that I grew up in, and I am prepared to set aside my anger with the challenge of 2019 and put my mark for Mark. I believe he is the best man to unite the PNP at this time.”

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/morris-declares-support-for-golding-former-senate-president-says-hanna-needs-to-resolve-discord-in-her-constituency_206742

I am attracted to the approach taken by former Senate President Floyd Morris in subjecting the two candidates vying for the presidency of the People’s National Party (PNP) to a SWOT analysis. This is a good starting point if we are to eliminate negativity about candidates in this or any other election, and try to establish a more objective basis on which to make our decision.

It is a good lesson for both the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) if they are to preserve unity and allow the electorate to make the choice as to which party is best to govern, by playing to their strengths and not their weaknesses. The benefit to us from this approach is a more robust governance structure with a discerning electorate able to focus on those issues which matter most to their well-being and the future of Jamaica.

All of us, whether we are delegates or not, should have an interest in the upcoming PNP presidential election. We want the best of both political parties to be showcased; this is not a race to the bottom, it is the defining of a democracy that represents the best this country has to offer. The one winner in all this would be Jamaica.

In the September 3 General Election, it was clear from commentaries and analyses that an overwhelming victory by one party over another was not in the best interest of Jamaica. In a post-COVID era, the nation can ill-afford a lopsided Parliament as we struggle to find the best policies and programmes to ensure the country can recover stronger over the next five to 10 years. A solid Opposition is a good recipe for expanding the economic pie and ensuring equity in the distribution of its benefits.

The PNP has been a divided party for more than a decade. Its own analysis indicated that were it united it would have won the 2016 General Election. The disunity was patently obvious in the 2020 General Election — 127,679 fewer people voted for the PNP in 2020 as against 2016. Disunity is seen as the central cause.

Following on Dr Morris’ SWOT analysis, I want to construct a matrix to see how the candidates fare in an objective and balanced assessment. First, let me lay out the criteria I believe any political party should consider in choosing its leader. The weight attributed to each criterion will be influenced by the prevailing set of circumstances.

The three issues in this contest are: (i) party political history; (ii) characteristics of leadership; and (iii) experience around governance. The candidates’ knowledge of, and working experience in their political party has to be a consideration. We would want to know that the candidates understand the structures of the party and have served in leadership over time. This is important, but for the PNP it cannot be the most crucial. I give this 10 per cent.

The second criterion is the characteristics of leadership. This means the ability to unite, to generate consensus around issues, to motivate and to endear commitment and loyalty. This I give the weight of 60 per cent.

The third factor is experience. This is experience in governance and business. The leadership race is not only about winning, it is about governing a society and building a nation. This is given the weight of 30 per cent.

Using this model, I will be playing upon the strengths of both candidates.

Lisa Hanna has had a longer run inside the PNP, she is a four-term MP, and served as both chairman of the party’s Region 1 and treasurer of the party. Mark Golding, on the other hand, has been MP for two full terms and treasurer of the party. In assessing both candidates on this, I would give the following scores:

Political Experience

Weighted Score (10)

Mark Golding 6

Lisa Hanna 9

Regarding characteristics of leadership, there can be no electoral contest — whether politics, union or otherwise — without division. Division is a natural corollary of contest. What is most important is the ability and capacity of the leader to begin to mend fences immediately after victory. Both Lisa and Mark inherited divisions within their respective constituencies. To Mark’s credit he has been able to resolve those differences, at best contain them so they are not issues affecting the unity of the constituency. Whatever the source or cause of South East St Ann’s division, Lisa has not been able to contain it. If anything it seems to have worsened to the point where charges of anti-party behaviour had surfaced. This is not a condemnation of Lisa, it is a bearing on her leadership style and skills, which she has admitted may not have been the most engaging in the past.

Characteristics of Leadership Weighted Score (60)

Mark Golding 50

Lisa Hanna 30

The third factor is experience. Both served one term as minister. Lisa showed a ready grasp of her portfolio, was very engaging and down to earth. She would no doubt have learnt from those years about the workings of government and the bureaucratic challenges the leader has to face.

Mark, on the other hand, has a wider experience in business and politics. He was outstanding as a minister ensuring that the country met the conditionalities set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in building out its legislative framework, as well as his service as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, and Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate. My score would be as follows:

Experience Weighted Score (30)

Mark Golding 20

Lisa Hanna 15

With a pass mark of 50 per cent, both candidates have proven themselves to be suitable for the post of PNP president. The candidate with the higher score is Mark Golding at 76, and Lisa at 54 would certainly make a good deputy.

Danny Roberts, CD, JP is a senior lecturer and head of the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute, The UWI Open Campus. He can be reached at strebord02@gmail.com

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/opinion/the-matrix-for-deciding-the-next-pnp-president_206733?profile=1013

It would be an egregious error if People’s National Party (PNP) delegates miscalculatingly elect a one-trick pony as president of the party on November 7, 2020 believing they are electing a political polymath.

It would get potentially worse were they to vote on the unstable premise that it is “woman time now!” If for nothing else, delegates should never forget that “what’s past is prologue”.

Yet, to begin with, two things can be true at the same time. For while women make great leaders, not all great leaders are women. The same is true of men; they make great leaders, but not all great leaders are men. Accordingly, the criteria for party leader, and the subsequent decision about who is best suited to replace Dr Peter Phillips, must rest on those qualities and traits that are in the best interest of securing organisational stability, success, and harmony, but without the albatross of passive aggression or Machiavellian tactics towards dissenters. Consequently, the delegates’ choice cannot be transactional; it must be about electing a leader who is eminently suitable, flexible, prepared, and qualified to lead from in front, without constantly having to look over the shoulders. After all, it is as much about visible and visionary leadership, as it is about purpose-driven, assertive, and fearless leadership.

However, if PNP delegates behave in narrow-minded ways, cloak themselves in shallow atmospherics, dwell in the wilderness of idle pursuits, collectively relax in the cleavage of the “sleepy centre”, or foolishly fiddle with beauty-based gender politics, then it could find itself relegated to the political boondocks.

Those outcomes are not far-fetched. In fact, if the PNP mismanages itself, or screws up the choice it makes on November 7, then the party could quickly become a minority party — one that paves the way for the emergence of another formidable, forward-looking political movement. If delegates vote to just satisfy their hungriness for instant gratification — at the expense of broadening the party’s tent big enough to inspire, persuade, and accommodate independent voters, infrequent voters, and, yes, disaffected Labourites, though few in numbers nowadays — then they would have done the country a grave injustice, and hand the party an enormous disaster.

To the contrary, their collective votes must set the party on a path toward achieving sustainability, unity of purpose and mission, relevance, and political scalability. Therefore, it is entirely up to the over 3,000 delegates to weigh carefully the pros and cons of the leadership hardware and software that both contenders — Lisa Hanna and Mark Golding — possess, even as they evaluate how those leadership qualities could redound to benefit not only the PNP, but the wider Jamaican society.

Put another way, delegates should not vote based on settling old scores for what occurred in the run-up to, and in the aftermath of the September 2019 presidential elections between “OnePNP” and “Rise United”. Neither should they carry the painful legacy from the 2006 and 2008 presidential election to the November 7 polls. Picking at old scabs is not just disgusting; it is also disturbing. Those days are gone, even though much of the ongoing internal rifts had genesis in the 2006 and 2008 internal contests, where one candidate saw the presidency as an entitlement, while the other was presented as “the only best hope for the PNP”. That kind of politics of privilege and presumptuousness has not served the PNP well and will only promote organisational discord and institutionalisation of unyielding cliques or organisations within an organisation. Either way, both contribute to dysfunction.

Make no bones about it, it would be bordering on political suicide if delegates elected someone to lead the party who is unceremoniously encumbered with the heavy weights of controversy. Neither should delegates elect someone whose political fabric is terribly stained by a never-ending trail of inelegant rumours and murky tales.

Undoubtedly, allegations are exactly what they are — accusations. Lest we forget, everyone is “innocent until proven guilty”, notwithstanding painful verdicts that are rendered in the courts of public opinion.

Nevertheless, there is always something to be said about the politics of contrast. In this instance, one contender is constantly having to play defence to ward off potential erosion of reputational value, whilst the other contender plays the charisma offence. Still, if delegates ignore everything that currently exists in ‘open court’, such disregard would be tantamount to political nonfeasance (the failure to act where there is a duty to act). That kind of behaviour would also be akin to riding blindfolded mules of silliness right into the cul-de-sac of political bankruptcy, only for the riders to realise that the installation of a president whose presence, political antecedents, and pedigree present the party with great organisational challenges and political liabilities that are prodigiously damaging and bigger than its ability to manage, much less to overcome.

In conversations with quite a few delegates and ‘delegate-influencers’ — most of whom happen to believe my perspectives are crucial to their decision-making process — it became obvious that many remain conflicted in their choice of who they feel is best suited to become party president. One thing’s for sure, there are some serious misrepresentations and equally troubling stories about the performance of one of the candidates. Those misrepresentations require dispassionate evaluation. Fairness demands we not conveniently overlook them, because sunlight would expose hidden truths that may present better optics than antagonists would want delegates to know ahead of the election.

That candidate is Lisa Hanna. She is always elegant, and holds the mien of a beauty queen. She is smart, articulate, intelligent, but charmingly steely in disposition. Her arrival in PNP politics, circa 2007, was subitaneous, but still excited the massive crowd that gathered in St Ann to witness the announcement of her candidacy.

She subsequently won the St Ann South Eastern seat — a PNP bastion — by 7,158 votes to the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) 4,461, or by a margin of 2,697 votes or 37.7 per cent. She then improved her electoral performance in the 2011 General Election by polling 8,996 votes to the JLP’s 4,751. That 2011 performance, by Hanna, not only passed the 8,477 votes Seymour “Foggy” Mullings received in 1997, but it also reflected a gain of 1,838 votes or a 26 per cent improvement over 2007. It also showed her receiving 4,245 more votes, or 47 per cent over the JLP.

Now, let us pause a bit here. There was a realignment of electoral boundaries in 2011 in St Ann, which resulted in an increase in the number of voters in St Ann South Eastern. That further tightened the PNP’s grip on the seat that it has won in all parliamentary elections it has contested since the seat was created back in 1959. In the 2016 General Election, Hanna polled 8,142 votes; 3,245 or 40 per cent more than the JLP’s 4,877.

Let us fast-forward to September 2020. With 30,488 eligible electors on the voters’ list, Hanna received 5,150 — a mere 31 votes or 0.60 per cent more than the JLP’s 5,119. Compared with her 2016 performance, the 2020 vote tally for Hanna shows a significant 2,992 or 36.7 per cent vote decline (not a swing to the JLP), while the JLP gained 242 or five per cent more votes than it received in 2016.

Hanna is tenacious, openly competitive, politically stealthy, and equally ambitious. Her political ambition suffered a bad fate 2016 when she not only “came fifth” in the PNP vice-presidential contest, but underperformed significantly behind the four other contenders.

Her entry into representational politics, but specifically her entry into St Ann South Eastern is not the causation of the current divisions in her constituency. If anything, her presence and on-again, off-again relationship with key players in the constituency has exacerbated those divisions, which first manifested themselves as far back as in 2002, when Aloun N’dombet-Assamba was elected to replace the retiring Seymour Mullings.

There are noticeable correlations between Hanna’s leadership of the constituency, deterioration in relationships at the parochial level, and electoral performance in recent parish council elections. Her leadership of Region 2, which comprises the parishes of Trelawny and St Ann leaves much to be desired from a seat-retention perspective. The unsettled drama with the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) and Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) over allegations about the awarding of contracts are unnecessary political distractions and negatives that should never accompany any aspirant seeking the presidency of the PNP.

Again, politics is about contrast. Leadership of a major political party, such as the PNP, requires more than a pageantry of pretence, it requires a fresh face that is unencumbered by doubts, unfounded rumours, or a reputation coloured by tenuous relationships. Having said that, it is also important to note that “one hand can’t clap” — the councillor and divisional core of St Ann South Eastern have some growing up to do. They must realise, sooner rather than later, that there is one Member of Parliament at a time; however much they loath that Member of Parliament. The ugliness and unnecessary power plays, ‘all-or-nothing’ posture, and inelegant outbursts could eventually flip a reliably safe PNP seat into a JLP one.

There is no sugar-coating it, the PNP is in serious trouble organisationally, financially, reputationally, and viably. If the PNP is to regain its viability, mission, relevance, and prestige, then it must break away from the clutches of the “sleepy centre”. It must modernise and repurpose its original aims and objectives in ways that are relatable, effective, and transformational. It must become a ‘disruptor’ in the political sense, and which, by the way, is not a synonym for political sabotage or chaos.

The party cannot slouch in the armchair version of its 1938 launch. The PNP must realise that things and times have changed since 1938, and so too must the party’s approach to ideation, innovative thinking, and modernity. That realisation must become the touchstone of its motivation and thrust towards policy development, outreach, engagement, communications, and, ultimately, problem-solving.

The party will not only have to transition in ways that set it apart philosophically and pragmatically from the current JLP governors. It will also have to formulate policies that allow it to present itself as the better alternative, ideologically and progressively, and as centre-left of the JLP. In other words, the PNP must reclaim its stolen identity and show the people that it can successfully implement and manage its own ideas.

Consequently, the PNP needs superfecta leadership. Mark Golding is that leader, hands down! He will listen to and value both convergent and divergent perspectives. Superfecta leadership requires a combination of transformational leadership, crisis leadership, turnaround leadership, visionary leadership, and empathetic leadership.

Admittedly, Mark Golding alone cannot fix the PNP, and he should not attempt to do so. However, his skill set as an accomplished lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, government minister, and successful politician, alongside other relevant experiences are necessary not only for the PNP to have, but also for Jamaica to continue to benefit from. His temperament and absolute determination will help the PNP regain its rightful place as the progressive and learning organisation it used to be, which is why I enthusiastically support his candidacy.

Golding’s work as an outstanding treasurer of the PNP, senator, and as the justice minister who led substantially on ganja and other justice reforms, and who helped to fast-track financial legislation through the Senate during the turbulent 2012-2016 period of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme is evidence enough of his capabilities, effectiveness, and stewardship.

Furthermore, it is never wise to put the same people in charge of fixing the very problems they are responsible for creating in the first place. The restoration of the PNP requires someone in whom the various arms, interests, and affiliates of the party can put their trust and feel confident that the leader has the pizazz to unite them and the entire party around and towards achieving the overarching aims and objectives of the party, as well as to inspire them to accomplish other new things, without ignoring the contribution and sacrifices of party workers on the ground.

Mark has it within him to attract a diverse group of Jamaicans under his “big tent” version of the PNP. And, yes, he can lead a reinvigorated, united, purpose-driven, and forward-thinking PNP to electoral success.

There was hardly any time allowed for it to be a long, drawn-out campaign where People’s National Party (PNP) constituency reps, party workers, and delegates would get bored, be cured of orange fever, then go home again to wait out COVID-19 and see the kitchen cupboard becoming empty again.

Instead, it went like this. Everyone knows Lisa Hanna. Hardly anyone knows Mark Golding. They are going up against each other. Many begin to know Golding and hear Hanna. Hanna’s words do not add up. Golding’s trust factor and leadership chops increase. A gap is in the making.

My initial fears for the PNP were centred on the possibility that Mark Golding as PNP party leader would turn out to be another Peter Phillips, a man strong on party knowledge, political strategy, and need for party reform and growth but who cannot quite sell his glory to party insiders or the broader constituency in the electorate.

Having heard him and seen the response to him, I am already sensing a renewed energy in the PNP, a threat to become likeable and attractive to many of those who sat out the September 3 elections.

Of most interest to political watchers is the stark difference in the respect both candidates have been benefited from their constituencies. In South St Andrew, I have not heard a peep from anyone bad-talking Golding. In South East St Ann (SESA), the criticisms are not just mounting, they are mountainous.

Of special note is that the criticisms are by no means new. The most stinging one centres around then party leader Portia Simpson Miller being dissed when she visited SESA in 2016 and the MP Lisa Hanna not being there, as would normally be expected, to officially meet and greet her.

The many fault lines of Hanna were pointed out to me years ago. I spoke with many people in her constituency in those times, and two factors were always competing with each other: the one of arrogance and the other of trust. It has been, and still is, her own people in her own constituency who have seen her as more disruptive to the PNP than she is capable of mending broken fences.

In the last week or so, Golding’s stature as best suited to restructure the PNP, rebuild it from the constituency up, and heal the long-term divisions has grown while Hanna’s very lack of those traits has been revealed.

In her appearance last Wednesda y on All Angles, Hanna was, seemingly, not given a chance to advance her candidacy as much as she spent time defending the political pile of detritus that was packed up around her.

Come Saturday, I expect Golding to be the next PNP President.

Ambassador Tapia Will Never Know Us

United States Ambassador Donald Tapia could never be a big supporter of the Trump doctrine and hope to be a friend of Jamaica. We know that he is a political appointee, and we knew what to expect.

Caught up in America’s deathly fear of the inevitability of China’s encroachment on the ‘manifest destiny’ of America’s global power, the military industrial complex represented by various political people called US presidents has been warning developing countries like Jamaica about the supposed evils of China.

According to economist Dr Richard Bernal, from Dragon in the Caribbean, ‘The implosion of the Soviet Union and its empire ushered in a brief interlude of a single superpower that is being steadily eroded by the rise of China to become a global power like the European Union. … Today, China is the world’s second-largest economy in the world, having become the largest merchandise exporter, largest producer of manufactured goods, and largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. According to Jeffrey Sachs, China could overtake the US in world GDP by 2050.”

Whenever Ambassador Tapia mentions China to Jamaicans, he prefaces it and completes it with ‘Communist China.’ That, I suppose, is designed to scare us. Oh boy1 Those communists are coming for our barn of corn.

So the ambassador took to Twitter, and he cut a sorry figure when challenged by Jamaicans by dissing us as if he was too good a mood after a late night out. While being interviewed on Cliff Hughes Online, he apologised, but in the process, admitted that his tweet was sent by a staffer and not him personally.

Even if that were so, it would have been better and more manly for the ambassador to not tell us that. This halfway-in apology but halfway out, blaming someone else is irresponsible. But for now, we will accept it. Until the China boogeyman cones around again.

GIVE TRUMP THE BIG BOOT AMERICA

Come Tuesday, the eyes of the globe will be on the United States as the majority will be hoping and expecting that America will do the right thing and rid the world of the global pestilence that has occupied the Oval Office since January of 2017. All polls are pointing to a big Biden win, but there is also US domestic apprehension that there will be a highly disordered transition, where Trump may not concede. Frankly, even though it is obvious that Donald Trump is a severely disordered man, I believe that fear to be overblown.

To give in to that fear is to admit that among the Senate, the House, the political leadership, and the Justice Department, there is not one ounce of gumption left that two burly DC cops cannot be found to haul the orange ghoul out of the White House.

The reality is that Donald Trump has befouled the presidency. Those who voted for Obama in 2012 but switched to Trump in 2016 have seen what that switch has wrought. While there will be a range of issues like Obamacare, COVID-19, and the economy on the mind of the electorate, I believe that many people are seeking stress relief.

He needs to be voted out.

– Mark Wignall is a political and public-affairs analyst. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20201101/mark-wignall-golding-triumph-lies-ahead

The race for the presidency of the People’s National Party (PNP) is going down to the wire, a new opinion poll has revealed.

A week before a vote is cast in the party’s presidential election, St Ann South Eastern Member of Parliament (MP) Lisa Hanna and St Andrew Southern MP Mark Golding are separated by a razor-thin margin, according to a poll conducted by Don Anderson and his team at Market Research Limited.

Hanna was the choice for 46.2 per cent of respondents, who were asked to name the person they would prefer to lead the floundering main opposition party at this time. But Golding was breathing down her neck, with 45.2 per cent of respondents identifying him as their choice to succeed Dr Peter Phillips.

In fact, Golding turned the tables – 45.9 per cent to 45.3 per cent – when respondents were asked to name the person best suited to lead the PNP at this time, based on a list of qualities that were identified.

The poll was commissioned by the Golding camp and surveyed 1,077 persons in all 14 parishes over a five-day period starting on October 24. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

The findings suggest an eight percentage point swing in favour of the St Andrew Southern MP, who, up to six weeks ago, trailed Hanna 34 per cent to 26 per cent in an internal poll commissioned by the PNP and conducted by Anderson.

CAMPAIGN TACTICS

Golding’s campaign manager, Dr Dayton Campbell, believes the “credibility and freshness” of his candidate are the reasons behind the momentum.

“Previous to September 3, Mark had not even contemplated leadership, and had not spent any time marketing himself nationally,” Campbell said in a statement yesterday, referring to the date of the last parliamentary election.

“Comrades and the wider public have been introduced to an authentic, decent and patriotic Jamaican. The more we expose Mark and his track record, the more people respect and love him. The Go With Golding campaign has the momentum, and we anticipate that Mark’s appeal will continue to grow,” he added.

Calls and messages to Hanna’s campaign spokesperson, Donna Scott Mottley, went unanswered yesterday.

For political commentator Shalman Scott, the eight-percentage point swing over a near one-month period raises “serious eyebrows”, especially among those persons who understand the various elements that will determine the outcome of a public opinion poll.

“I am not here questioning what the pollster has found. I’m saying it appears unusual. It does raise eyebrows and raises curiosity about what would be the contributory factors that could cause such a turnaround in the fortunes of one of the contestants,” said Scott, a former Montego Bay mayor.

“What could have happened in 30 days for there to be such a dramatic turnaround?” he questioned, pointing to what he described as Anderson’s record of “hit-and-miss” polling.

SURVEY FINDINGS

According to the survey, 39 per cent, or the largest bloc of respondents, who view the St Ann South East MP as the person best suited to lead the PNP believe she is a people person, while 26 per cent see her as the person who can best unite the fractious 82-year-old political organisation.

Seventeen per cent believe she is more respected and 12 per cent say she will be more accepted by the people.

For Golding, 29 per cent of those who see him as the person to lead the PNP believe he is the person who can best unify the party, while 24 per cent said he is the “stronger” candidate.

Twenty-six per cent of respondents believe he is a people person, while 13 per cent believe he is the kind of leader the PNP needs.

Forty-eight per cent of respondents suggested that the PNP “stop the infighting” as part of the efforts to reverse the declining support from the wider society, while 45 per cent proposed that the party “reconnect with the people”.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20201101/dead-heat-pnp-presidential-race

KINGSTON, Jamaica— The National Workers Union (NWU) has declared support for Mark Golding who is seeking to replace Dr Peter Phillips as president of the People’s National Party (PNP).

In a detailed statement released to the media, the NWU listed five reasons for its decision, including proven managerial skills and leadership competence, demonstrated respect for people, and concern for the welfare of the workers in the PNP.

It said it had carefully examined the credentials of both Golding and Lisa Hanna, who is also vying for the position of president.

“Both candidates have advanced solid ideas on reorganising the party to secure future electoral victories. Many of these ideas are not new, and they are both in agreement on the basic organisational changes to take the party forward. The qualifying factors for the next party leader will therefore be based not so much on their articulation, but upon their past record of performance and ideological commitment,” the NWU said.

“In that regard, while the NWU acknowledges the contribution of Cde Lisa Hanna, we support the candidature of Mark Golding as the sixth president of the PNP,” the trade union declared.

The internal elections is scheduled for November 7, 2020.

As a trade union, the NWU is historically linked to the PNP. It is currently headed by Granville Valentine, general secretary.

It said further: “We are particularly mindful of the fact that from introspections and analyses over the years, the overwhelming wish of the delegates and party supporters have been for the PNP to return to its ideological roots of democratic socialism.  In our own assessment, the party has drifted from a secured labour agenda and has not effectively defined and articulated policies and programmes to advance the interest of labour in building a society of equality, social justice and egalitarianism.

“The NWU’s historic link with the progressive movement and our commitment to the cause of labour are defining criteria in building a nation and shaping our society.  We firmly believe that the People’s National Party remains the best hope to secure that future, and whoever is elected as party leader must have a proven track-record of support for the progressive ideals of the party.”

The NWU was formed in 1952 and represents a wide cross-section of workers in all major sectors of the economy.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/NWU_endorses_Mark_Golding?profile=1228

In the final US presidential debate, Donald Trump continued to misguide the American people. Against overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he again insisted that every room he enters, he is the least racist person in that room.

Back here at home, while we are still being consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our attention is being taken up by the internal People’s National Party (PNP) race for leadership. Two candidates are in it, and by my count, one has been coming across as more authentic, while the other sounds like a package prepared on an assembly line.

Let us be fair here. So far, most of what we have are words from the two candidates, Mark Golding, member of parliament for St Andrew Southern, and Lisa Hanna, the St Ann South Eastern MP. Early last week, both candidates released more words, Golding in his official launch from his constituency and Hanna in an interview on ‘Miss Kitty Live’.

Both candidates tried to put their best foot forward, and in the process, it was Golding who came across as being ‘in his element’ as he reached out to his constituents, the wider constituency of PNP supporters and delegates, and, maybe, a broader group of potential voters. In listening to Golding, one sensed that he knew he was not as well known as Hanna. In that understanding, he knew that he had to adopt a strategy to pick off those delegates whom he would need to take him into favourable territory by November 7.

Hanna gave the impression that she was there already. That may not be altogether a bad political strategy, that of sounding like a winner when one has barely settled in the starting gates. I was particularly drawn to Hanna’s answer that her young age (45), in comparison to Golding (55), would give her an advantage in the race and beyond.

She said it would give her more time. More time to do what?

It seems to me that many in the PNP have become too much taken up with the relatively young age of PM Holness (48) to the point that they believe that just because the PNP’s Peter Phillips (70) was seen as out of touch with the sad realities that burdened his doomed search for space at Jamaica House, age is now being given an outsized importance.

That reasoning places Peter Phillips’ age as the major factor in the horrible general election loss and not the fact that Phillips just never did connect with his own PNP supporters and many of those in the wider electorate. As I have repeatedly said and written, once Phillips began speaking, many started sleeping. That is a major disconnect, even before he had a chance to pronounce on policy positions.

POOR LEADERSHIP TEMPLATE

For those who came in late, Hanna won her seat on September 3 by 31 votes. Understand that against the background of the lady winning the seat for the PNP by 5,000 votes in the past.

It is not a secret that Hanna has been a divisive element in her constituency to the point that at one stage, there was almost an open revolt by her councillors. In a race for PNP president, one would expect that all of the candidates would at the very least have the support of their own councillors. The councillors would then be able to present the groups and delegates to the aspirant on a platter.

Not so with Hanna. Councillor for the Bensonton division in St Ann South Eastern, Lydia Richards, has already broken for Mark Golding, and I expect that more will soon be coming on board for him.

In the days when the PNP was riding high under the leadership of Simpson Miller, the wave would have taken Lisa Hanna to impressive victories. With the massive swing to the JLP measured in opinion polls done prior to September 3, it needed real effort by the MP to keep the constituency alive and safely in the PNP column.

Never really having a need to work on her own behalf by showing her successes in the constituency and cohesiveness with her councillors, she was taken along on the PNP wave that used to give most boats a healthy rise at election times. In 2020, her leadership failures, problems in her councils, and problems with her councillors gave her just what one would expect from such political cacophony. A 31-vote win.

ADVANTAGE GOLDING

We have not heard of any political friction in Mark Golding’s St Andrew Southern constituency, but let us understand that Golding is the holder of a garrison constituency. He may not have a need to explain the intricacies of that to PNP delegates, but at some stage in the life of this country, all MPs of garrison constituencies will have to come clean with that reckoning.

As I have said before, so far, what we have heard from both camps are words. In judging those words, Golding not only sounds believable but actually comes across as engaging and anything but boring. It is obvious that he understands his role and the duty that brought him to this point.

There is no way that a party that fell to the devils of divisiveness and endless factionalism can dare to present a candidate in Lisa Hanna, whose words are promising us that she is better suited to bring an end to such political bitterness. Are we joking?

Over the next two weeks, more will be revealed that will easily show that Golding is leagues ahead of Hanna in not just understanding the issues but in having the tools and the personnel to deal with them successfully.

The most dangerous part of what is taking place now is not what is being discussed openly but plans that a small but powerful cabal are setting out to execute.

More on that later.

– Mark Wignall is a political and public-affairs analyst. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20201025/mark-wignall-pnp-leadership-battle-heats

THE endowment fund being promised to People’s National Party (PNP) workers who fall on hard times will be established even if presidential aspirant Mark Golding loses the internal election on November 7.

Golding made the commitment during this week’s virtual Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange during which he was speaking to journalists.

The St Andrew Southern Member of Parliament (MP) has promised to establish the fund with $15 million in honour of PNP founder O T Fairclough.

The promise is being touted ahead of the contest between him and Lisa Hanna, the MP for St Ann South Eastern. The two are vying to replace Dr Peter Phillips as PNP president.

“Yes, it will go on whether or not I win. I am committed to establishing this fund as a legacy to the party and to the party workers, who are really the backbone of the party and have carried us forward over the years. We need to do something meaningful and something tangible to assist those of them who have served long and may have found themselves on hard times and living conditions maybe not up to a certain level, and so on,” said Golding.

“So, yes, it’s absolutely something I’m committed to. I’m going to endow it, as I’ve said, with $15 million, and I hope that will be the yeast that will attract others to join me in building a very strong fund that can really help to show the communities in which our workers live, and the families of our workers, that the party cares for our own and we do so in a meaningful, tangible way,” he added.

Golding said, too, that the fund must have a robust governance structure to ensure transparency and to ensure that the process is equitable and fair, in terms of how benefits are distributed.

“This is something I’m committed to, regardless of who is the president of the party,” he said.

The plan was first announced last September during the leadership contest between then Manchester Central Member of Parliament Peter Bunting and Dr Phillips.

Golding had announced then that he had raised $10 million to create an endowment fund to help struggling party workers, but received heavy backlash from members of Phillips’s camp who described the move as “suspicious”.

At that time, he was chairman of Bunting’s ‘Rise United’ campaign.

Bunting eventually lost in his bid to unseat Phillips.

“That fund is going to be there to be invested, and the income from the investments is going to look after our party workers who have served long and hard and who face bad living conditions and other problems in their lives,” he announced last week in pointing out that he would revisit its establishment.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/win-or-lose-pnp-fund-for-workers-is-a-go-says-golding_206192?profile=1373