‘Life is a bitch and then you die” is a very old saying.
Jamaicans have long championed for a new type of a leadership, one that is not cantankerous, crude, in your face , rude and obnoxious, but when faced with something close to that, we recognize it’s not what we really want.
We want people like Portia Simpson Miller, Audley Shaw, Everald Warmington, people who ” nuh ramp”, when they are on the political platform. They speak to the people, they speak with passion, there is fire in belly and a no-nonsense, fire brand approach, those are the people we really want.
Andrew Holness represents the new kind of politician, one who will be good for Jamaica, possibly on the international scene and a minister of foreign affairs due to his calm and non confrontational approach.
Andrew lacks passion and fire in the belly, his speeches are boring and monotonous and without the energy that electorates are looking for in their leader, it’s just who he is and that will not change. The ironic thing about Andrew is, if he ever attempts to be like a Portia or even an Audley, he will be soundly rejected as he will only be pretending and he is lousy lair.
We don’t want to hear about bitter medicine, no don’t come to us with that. Lie to us, tell us you will ensure that when you get elected, we will enjoy oxtail, shrimp, lobsters and drink fine wine. Tell us you will provide us free housing, free light, free water, free land with titles and jobs, jobs , jobs. You don’t have to tell us how the country is going to afford all of this. that is your job, just ensure you tell us life will be better under your leadership.
Jamaicans want the kind of politician who will lie to them, promise them the world while delivering next to nothing. We want the kind of politician who will take care of his/her supporters no matter what and will put party faithful ahead of country.
Andrew Holness is one who does not seem to be able to separate politics from reality, you get the sense he is a “honest” politician, one who is willing to take a hit for speaking the truth and therein lies a good trait, but becomes his weakness in politics.
Andrew does not appear to have the stomach to fight a real fight, Jamaican style. As much as you hear him posturing about welcoming a challenge from Audley Shaw, Andrew is deathly afraid of any such challenge, he just does not have the stomach for that.
You listen to him say those words and you can feel the emptiness, meaning he does not appreciate the challenger and being such a lousy lair it’s so easy to pick that up from his speech, just look at his body language and that is a dead giveaway.
Andrew your time will come, you truly represent the new face of what politics should represent, but Jamaicans are NOT yet ready for your brand of politics. Fire must be fought with fire and to get out this PNP government and dethrone Portia, will require an approach that you sir are not willing to take and that is just not the chance, that the suffering Jamaicans are willing to take, with you as leader.
Sad ehh, but this is closet you will get to the truth on any blog on the news papers, take it from me ” a same so it go “.
A dat me seh.
Filed under: Politics |
Warren's Blog 
Poor little thing, big man job foisted upon him in time of crisis when the JLP was clutching at straws to cover up the shame BG rained down on them.
Jay, the basic, fundamental problem with Holness is that he is old wine pretending to be new.
In its 70 years of existence, the JLP has had only one leadership challenge in 1974. Amazing!
I am pleased beyond measure to see the psychological travails poor little Andrew is going through.
Holness cannot persuade even a ripe mange to fall from a tree.
Step up “Sarah Palin” tea party time!!! 🙂 Jay you see how the “eat a food” a gwaan? Bus load from St Elizabeth (which area council dat?)
Acar, I know you are joking, but I have stated on a innumerable occasions that I have no problem with tea party movement originating in Jamaica. That why I am showing you this, since it has a conservative element.
Most people have a problem with the leadership style of Mr.Holness because he is not aggressive and Jamaicans prefer people who are usually partisan and vulgar. I like leaders who are intellectually adept, aggressive and those who are able to articulate a philosophical position well, Mr.Holness has some good ideas, but he is unable to articulate them well.
Mr. Shaw on the other hand was a better performer than his predecessor and the current finance minister, but he was not a great performer. Politics in Jamaica is the forte of mediocre men and Audley Shaw is one of the better poor performers, but if he wins the election, it will not make a difference, because his supporters fail to develop an argument beyond Andrew’s perceived weakness as a leader. Although, Mr.Holness maybe weak, his opponent does not offer much in terms of substance either. Jamaican people should put aside the hype for once and analyze both men. I will begin with Mr.Holness.
In 2004, a the education transformation report was compiled. Holness implemented some of the recommendations like JTC and NCEL. In addition, during his stint a number of other programmes were launched like ASTEP AND CAP, both programmes had instances of success, but overall they failed. However the Centres of Excellence Programme was a big success and there was also a steady increase in the passes for CSEC, GSAT etc.
Holness was also aware of the need to have a well functioning education trust, even while in opposition he has made some declarations that have resonated with me. For example, privatizing development approvals and reducing the role of government in procurement, but politics is not about ideas, and like other businesses politicians must give their clients what they want, if they want aggression give it to them. So, Mr Holness has failed to appeal to his base and he is not consistent in his utterances. For example, I subscribe to conservative economic ideals, the jlp is supposed to be the conservative party, but Mr.Holness is calling it the progressive party. Instead of appealing to populist sentiments, he should explain his conservative ideals to the masses.
Audley was always a popular member of the party and he is usually a good opposition spokesperson. He achieved some level of macroeconomic stability and under his leadership, the inflation rate in Jamaica was lower than that of the United States, interest rates were at a record low, the dollar was stable, we had healthy reserves and mortgage rates were reduced.
Some will argue that the JLP doubled the debt this is not true. The debt in 2007 was 980 billion and in 2011 it was 1.6 trillion, the pnp also increased the debt by dramatic proportions, so I do not buy the stupid argument that the jlp did a lot of damage in a relatively short period, because Jamaicans usually choose to avoid the pnp’s mistakes and Jamaica’s interest payments are extremely high, because of Dr.Omar Davies. If Audley wins then I will confirm the popularly held view again, that Jamaicans only care about hype.
Reading you diatribe, the reader might be misled to believe you know what you are talking about. You use such terms as “steady increase in the passes for CSEC, GSAT”, “Centres of Excellence Programme was a big success”, yet if pushed to provide the data to support your claims, you will simple disappear for a week, only to resurface at a later date when all is forgotten.
Let me ask you this: how many years did Audley Shaw “really” head the Finance Ministry? If memory serves me right, Don Whebly was “really” the one running the day-to-day operation at the Ministry of Finance for at least two years. Bruce Golding did not have any level of faith in Audley Shaws Finance abilities…..right? How did come by the name “one-third”? You you remember the incidence (I think it had to do with issues surrounding FINSAC) where he was complaining that people within the Ministry was bypassing him and going to directly to Don Wehby, with him declaring…”I am the Finance Minister”.
Audley Shaw has zero training in Finance and technically the guy is a journalist by training….you do know that? Audley Shaw kept touting that he has achieved miracles during his time at the helm and was able to secure “low” interest loans. In reality, a large number of the loans he secured had these “teaser” rates for only six-months(!) and quickly increase to market rates (something he hid from the Jamaican people).
I refer you again to Audley Shaw’s track record as a businessman; Name me one successful business this finance guru has run in the past 20-30 years (Gas Station? Hardware? Mining?)? Why didn’t Audley Shaw want to testify at the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry? Just wait for the dirt that Holness has on him to start leaking out in the coming months. We know most of it, but from what I understand, there is more.
Test, I never disappear for weeks. It would be good if you could engage in a discussion which is beyond careless Jamaican politics. In the piece above I did not praise Audley SHaw, I just highlighted some of his achievements, I did not deem him an effective minister, he was just a bit better than his predecessor. Test, everyone knows Audley business failed and nothing is wrong with giving a man what is due to him, if he achieved some level of macroeconomic stability why not say it. Test you know Jamaica politicians are not to be taken seriously
you cannot be a leader without followers !!!! if a leader cannot grasp this concept, they are in the wrong business. I don’t need multiple paragraphs to make this point