Mark Wignall | By God, Holness did it!

While it always occupied more than a little space within the realm of possibilities, I must confess that at times on election day and night it appeared that PM Holness would miss his date with his three-straight-terms destiny.

One big bugbear was the youthful personnel manning the polling stations. While they conducted themselves professionally, their lack of experience slowed them down, and the overall process especially in dealing with voters whose voter ID card was not up to date just like mine. With one person inside polling station 83 Red Hills preparing to vote and one other person in front of us (Chupski and me), it was 45 minutes before we made it to the inside. Actual duration in voting. Less than five minutes.

I was voting for the 10th time. She for the third. And although our vote was for the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, it would not have mattered if the holder of the West Rural St. Andrew seat was named Ebony Pink but listed in the JLP column. I came to get a vote registered for Andrew Holness, a solid performer over the last decade and it worked out.

At least two foreign publications made mention of Holness where it was strongly implied that during his time, corruption was like a pot of boiling porridge. It’s difficult to determine if the publications placed the articles as deliberate hit pieces or they were trying to balance the general lack of spirited discussion re corruption during campaign time.

Maybe in the next six months we will be informed on the extent to which corruption attached itself to the PM and retarded his voting support. I believe that if other troubling issues like water supplies and bad roads exist as negatives to deal with, likely voters would push corruption as just another tertiary issue not worth much consideration.

Based on what I saw at all the other polling stations within view, the general seating accommodation for senior citizens was atrocious. It seemed to be cultural like in the health system where senior citizens often find themselves standing in line to wait during visits on medical matters.

While the EOJ performed its core matter well, it has a duty to learn from what generally existed in the poor treatment of senior citizens.

At a certain time on election night or in simply exercising one’s thoughts in overtime, it must have dawned on those who voted for the JLP candidates that PM Holness had won again after 2016, 2020 and last September 3.

Reminds me of an old radio broadcast of Bustamante winning an election and getting caught up in the after-win euphoria by saying, “...we’ve won, we’ve won, we’ve won…”

HATS OFF TO THE PNP

The People’s National Party (PNP) has to be congratulated for allowing its leader to find a gear that he did not have before. In moving from a 49-14 massive majority for Holness’s JLP in 2020 to the JLP’s 34 (dropping 15) to the PNP’s 29 (gaining the same), it’s in order for us to congratulate Golding and the PNP. That gear given to Golding allowed him to make that critical turn and that last run up a rising hill.

Decency demands that we must praise Golding and even lather it on a little too much as if Mr. Golding has been sanctified, and not like my PNP friend living in the state of Florida. “The people of Jamaica have voted and voted to give the JLP a third term. Democracy is alive and well in Jamaica, that is good. I was proud of how well the election went off. No major violence or killing. Free and fair elections. That is good.”

Of course there is no way in which the parties could have ‘switched up’ on the electorate without major shockers. Over the last few months a small battery of PNP supporters/voters has been laying out in front of me the political and electoral demise of my friend Bobby Montague in West St. Mary. I apologize to my friend for not making him aware of this.

Based on his sound victory last Wednesday, it tells me that I made the right decision not to bother him with something that he probably already knew.

The additional shocker was Ann-Marie Vaz, ‘Action Ann’ in half of Portland. I must confess that I expected her husband, Daryl to lend her a hand if she genuinely needed assistance. Isat Buchanan really put it to her and while I sincerely believe that he has not earned the social and professional right to be in politics, I must be grounded and know that in party politics, many torn cards are played.

GOING FORWARD

Within a year the nation will learn of the rise of the demise of Mark Golding. Remember now, once a political party loses an election, the collective decency needed to massage the leader’s ego and propel him forward usually doesn’t last.

As much as Golding has been congratulated, he has moved from Opposition Leader to loser. A loss is beside his name. Some may say he moved in the right direction but after campaigning for the last two years he nevertheless failed to clutch that last basket of goodies. Failed is the operative word.

Recounts are in the near future. For PM Holness, his real toil has begun. The free run from 2020 is over. The people have said many things to him and the summation of it all is that his power has been checked. Windows can no longer be closed. Other pressing items may rear their heads to press against him. Social media from PNP sources will not go quiet.

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