Democratic socialism and the PNP

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Lately, there have been discussions about democratic socialism in the public square. In 1974, the People’s National Party (PNP) declared itself a party committed to democratic socialism. The people made their views known on democratic socialism in 1980 by voting out the Michael Manley-led administration. One would have thought that the 1980 general election was a pretty clear indication of where the Jamaican people stood on the subject of democratic socialism.

I remember that, upon his return to power in 1989, Prime Minister Michael Manley was functionally to the ideological right of former JLP Prime Minister Edward Seaga. It was an amazing feat of political metamorphosis.

Sometime in 1990, I was at a journalism conference in Kingston and heard famed Caribbean journalist Ricky Singh ask Mr Manley whether he was still a democratic socialist. After a circumlocutory marathon, Mr Manley finally answered. He said he was still a democratic socialist.

The question is: “How many persons in the PNP still believe in democratic socialism?”

In 2019, Peter Bunting challenged Dr Peter Phillips for the leadership of the PNP. In the wake of that challenge, the PNP’s Paul Burke went on radio and explained that membership in the party necessitated an embrace of its programmes and policies “based on the principles of democratic socialism”.

If I understood Burke correctly, you cannot be a member of the PNP and not be committed to democratic socialism. I sometimes wonder how Peter Bunting and Mark Golding can fit into a party committed to democratic socialism.

It is interesting to me that, since 1980, the PNP has not campaigned as democratic socialists. I wonder why. I certainly think that has been intentional. Since 1980, I have not had any compelling reason to believe that the Jamaican people have changed their minds concerning democratic socialism. In fact, if the PNP campaigns on democratic socialism in the future, I would not be surprised if the Jamaican people gave them a similar thrashing at the polls to the one they got in 1980. A word to the wise is sufficient.

MLD