Local government bangarang
OBSERVING THE lead-up to the local government election, I realised this one would be different. There was vibrant campaigning as the bases of both major political parties got fired up, and based on their utterances, it was apparent that some Jamaicans thought it was a general election. When I asked someone if they were going to vote, they said, “Of course”, adding that they had to “vote out Andrew.”
In a TikTok video produced before the event, one woman referred to it as a general election. And, after a winner was announced, before being “unannounced” (I’ll get to that later), I saw a comments section under a live YouTube video where someone asked when the party leader they thought had won would be sworn in.
On the evening of the election, I sat in front of my television, watching the results show on Nationwide News Network. After several hours of commentary and declarations of winners of polling divisions and parish councils, veteran journalist Cliff Hughes confidently announced that the People’s National Party (PNP) had won the local government election. Comrades rejoiced, and party leader and Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding accepted congratulations and thanked those who voted in his party’s favour. So that was it, right?
Wrong. Apparently, in a Steve Harvey moment, Hughes had erred in crowning the Comrades and subsequently apologised for his faux pas. The next thing I knew, after I saw Mark Golding celebrating a win, I witnessed Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Prime Minister Andrew Holness doing the same. Confusion reigned as several persons took to social media to ask the burning question, “Who won?” while members of both parties celebrated victory.
CREATED FIRESTORM
Then, two days later, while still awaiting the final result, videos of JLP Member of Parliament Everald Warmington and PNP caretaker for the Trelawny Northern constituency, Dennis Meadows, hit the Internet, went viral and created a firestorm. In Warmington’s video, after his candidate, Lloyd Grant, lost to his PNP opponent Kurt Waul, he loudly declared to supporters in his St Catherine South West constituency, “No PNP councillor gwine spend my money,” while praising Grant for his service, saying although he may not be the councillor he will spend “every f**king dime.” He also berated “a**h*le” Labourites who voted against Grant.
As I tried to process Warmington’s vile, tribal and unethical comments, I was hit with the bombshell that was the video of PNP’s Dennis Meadows. In the clip, filmed prior to the election, Meadows, while addressing a group of supporters, gave what was essentially a TED talk on scamming. He addressed “choppers” (criminals who scam people out of their money), saying, “I have no problem with a man if him waan chop, because them chop us during slavery, so nuttn wrong if we chop them back.” He then advised the “choppers” to “use the money wisely” after committing their crimes, to set themselves up, open a business and look after their mothers and babymothers.
Thankfully, the public outcry was deafening. The next day, party leader Mark Golding issued a statement rebuking Meadows and announcing his removal as the PNP provisional candidate for North Trelawny, stating his “continuation as the candidate is untenable in light of his egregious remarks…” adding, “Jamaica will no longer tolerate weak, unprincipled leaders…” Later that day, Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued a statement declaring that he met with Warmington and accepted his resignation from his cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.
REPEAT OFFENDER
Warmington is a repeat offender with a long and sordid history of crass, vulgar and unscrupulous remarks that his party has tolerated for many years. This tolerance prompted many Jamaicans to surmise that had Golding not taken action against Meadows, Warmington would have got away scot-free. Indeed, unlike Golding in his statement, Holness did not call out Warmington for his behaviour but merely thanked him for his service.
Days after the election, the Electoral Office of Jamaica released the results showing the JLP winning seven municipal corporations and the PNP five, with one ending in a tie. Subsequently, the Electoral Commission of Jamaica revised the final count, giving seven municipal corporations to the JLP and six, including the Portmore City municipality, to the PNP, and reported a 20-20 tie for the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation.
The key metric used to determine success in a local government election is the results from the municipal corporations, and the JLP won more. However, it was a pyrrhic victory because, with a voter turnout of 29.6 per cent (the lowest in local government election history), if you consider those who did not vote and those who voted for the PNP, approximately 85 per cent of the electorate did not vote for them. Also, by winning the popular vote by getting over 20,000 more votes and by winning more divisions, the gains made by the PNP were significantly more than those of the JLP.
The results of this election should serve as a wake-up call to the Holness administration. Jamaicans are clearly not satisfied with the management of their country. As for the PNP, much of the populace is not excited about them either. Both parties have a lot of work to do to convince Jamaicans that they are worthy of leading us.