Voter apathy a threat to Jamaica’s democracy — Patterson
FORMER Prime Minister PJ Patterson is calling for a close look at measures which can be implemented to deal with the apathy which has greeted recent national elections as it is posing a threat to the country’s democracy.
“It must be of concern when we see declining voter turnout. It should be something of concern to both [major] political parties, and indeed to the entire country, because we are failing to convert into actual meaning something [universal adult suffrage] that is so fundamental to our progress as a country,” Patterson told the Jamaica Observer in a recent exclusive interview.
According to Patterson, the closing of the ideological divide between the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) could be a factor in the loss of interest for people to vote in national elections, but there are other issues to be addressed.
“More and more people feel it doesn’t matter how I vote, my life is not going to change and there is a level of individual materialism that no matter what, no matter which government is in power, I’m going to be alright,” added Patterson.
He charged that too many Jamaicans do not understand that the fight for universal adult suffrage, which was granted in November 1944, meant that for the first time every adult in Jamaica would be able to participate in the choice of Government.
“We are not being taught enough about ourselves, who we are, the struggles we have undertaken, and really giving some sense of purpose and, I would almost say, of value,” charged Patterson.
The 1980 General Election, which was an ideological battle between a left-leaning PNP, which was in Government, and the right-leaning JLP, saw an 87 per cent voter turnout.
Since then there has been a steady decline in the number of Jamaicans turning out for the polls with the 2020 General Election turnout being 37 per cent — the lowest after 1983 when the PNP did not participate in the polls.
In the local government elections before that (2016), the voter turnout was even more alarming, at 30 per cent
This year the voter turnout for the local government elections, held on February 26, was 29.6 per cent.