The much-anticipated general election in Jamaica has come and gone. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been returned to power, and nothing seems to have changed.
Going into the elections, one of the issues raised by the opposing People’s National Party (PNP) was the need to vote against corruption, which many saw spreading across the country and among some members of the JLP’s hierarchy, although the leadership of that party denied the allegations.
Evidence of this denial was apparent in decisions made by the leader of the party and Prime Minister Andrew Holness since being re-elected. In naming his new Cabinet, Holness brought back a former minister of energy who was embroiled in controversy regarding corruption and irregularities at the oil company PetroJam during his former tenure. Following this, when the new Parliament sat for the first time, JLP members—who, of course, hold the majority—reappointed the prime minister’s wife as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Many Jamaicans regarded Mrs. Holness’s appointment as Speaker during the JLP’s recently concluded term of government as an unusually blatant act of nepotism. Some also expected the new government to heed the criticism of nepotism and instead nominate one of its MPs unrelated to the prime minister for the position of Speaker. But despite strong opposition expressed by the PNP, Mrs. Holness has again been appointed as Speaker, to much acclaim from the JLP’s legislative membership and their supporters.
Some find it very disappointing that the re-elected government appears to be ignoring concerns about corruption, even as corruption seems to be becoming the norm in Jamaican society. But those who find the situation disappointing are in the minority, because public backlash over appointing a former minister tainted by corruption—and the reappointment of the prime minister’s wife as Speaker—has been weak at best. Sadly, it seems most Jamaicans are more concerned about their own personal welfare than with corruption among politicians or matters like nepotism. Instead of being shocked by acts of corruption, they seem to shrug them off as “no big thing.” In fact, some people are not ashamed to behave corruptly themselves, as long as they too “can eat a food.”
This growing corruption erodes efforts to create a law-abiding society. If more people behave corruptly, unconcerned about the consequences, the entire society will be on a march toward decay, indifferent to how corrupt the so-called leaders of society are. Very soon, if no action is taken, generation after generation of future Jamaicans will be building on a foundation of corruption. This cannot be allowed to happen.
There are also various reports that corruption allegedly found its way into the electoral process during the recently held general elections. The allegations included vote buying, with potential voters being paid large sums of money—or in kind—to vote for particular candidates; voter suppression, with voters known to be members of a particular political party paid not to vote; and extremely slow voting processes at some polling stations, which frustrated voters who did not have time to stand in line for hours and left without voting. Many other reports spoke of voters who were in line to vote at 5 p.m., when the polls closed, being turned away—contrary to Jamaica’s electoral law, which allows anyone in line at 5 p.m. to remain and vote.
The Jamaican Electoral Office has denied most of these allegations, but this has not stopped the claims or proven them unfounded. We agree with former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding that the Jamaican Election Commission should investigate the allegations to ensure Jamaica maintains the reputation it has gained for conducting fair elections. If there is real evidence that corrupt practices occurred on election day, this should be made public, and steps should be taken immediately to prevent a recurrence.
In his address after being sworn in for the fourth time as Jamaica’s prime minister, Holness spoke about continuing to strengthen the economy and improving the standard of living for Jamaicans but made no commitment to rid the society of corruption. Admittedly, Holness has made history as the first JLP leader to have led the party to three consecutive terms in office. He must now be very careful in creating a legacy as one of Jamaica’s most successful prime ministers. He certainly would not want his legacy to be that of the prime minister who presided over the most corrupt period in Jamaica’s history. There is much work for him to do in eradicating corruption from Jamaican society, and this begins with rooting it out of his administration and the political party he leads.
