Tweet
What happens now?
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, June 28, 2010
THE BBC website showed a smiling Christopher "Dudus" Coke arriving in New York on Thursday, flanked by US marshals. Why was he smiling? Was he happy that he did not suffer the fate of his father who died in a mysterious fire while awaiting extradition in 1992? Was it because he had "secrets" that will either make him safe, or bring others down with him?
Back in Jamaica, there was laughter over the strange appearance of this "strongman" in a wig, apprehended on the Mandela Highway in the company of the Rev Al Miller, the government-appointed head of Jamaica's National Transformation Movement. While Dudus was being extradited, Al Miller was being slapped with charges of perverting the course of justice and harbouring a fugitive. He gave a hilarious press interview when he emerged from the police station after being granted bail.
WILLIAMS... so many people did not have to die, that is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry.
WILLIAMS... so many people did not have to die, that is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry.
1/1 
Meanwhile, the PNP was stepping on its own toes in North East St Elizabeth last Sunday, as supporters of hopefuls to replace Kern Spencer became aggressive. The footage captured by the CVM cameraman was certainly not pretty!
These events have left neither of our two major political parties smelling like a rose. The general secretary of the NDM, Michael Williams, was making increasingly more sense as I listened to him holding forth on several discussion programmes. I decided that it was time to give him a hearing.
Mike Williams believes that the people of Jamaica have now felt the heavy hand of garrison politics and may want to support his party, to become their "conscience" in the House of Parliament. "Our objective is not to topple either the JLP or PNP," said Williams. "We want to have a voice in Parliament and to promote openness and accountability."
Williams claims that there are four JLP and 12 PNP garrisons in Jamaica, breeding grounds for criminals led by dons who are allowed to do as they please in the years between elections just as long as they deliver the victory to the party defended by the garrison. "Just look at which parties the lawyers come from who defend these dons, and you will know the party they are supporting," says Williams.
He believes that the Tivoli operation could have been peaceful if Bruce Golding had asked Edward Seaga to accompany him to the community, and they had made a joint appeal in person to dismantle the barricades. He opines that the people would have cooperated. "Why did they have to go in the night?" he asked. "It would have been quite different, if they had gone in the day with the cameras behind them."
"Tivoli is not such a big place," says Williams. "They could have easily surrounded it and posted forces at all of those tunnels. It should have been done in daylight. So many people did not have to die. Mr Clarke did not have to die. This is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry."
Asked how the NDM would have handled the extradition order, Williams said, "If we were the government, we would have implemented the order as soon as it came down. We got a copy and there was enough evidence for the action. It was full of detailed statements."
Recounting the NDM's history, Williams said it was ex-JLP member Brascoe Lee and others who formed the NDM in 1995 with Bruce Golding as its president. Golding's defeat on the NDM ticket in the 1997 elections was a huge blow to the aspirations of the party which had attracted such stars as Wayne Chen, Hyacinth Bennett, Chris Tufton and Gregory Mair. When Bruce Golding returned to the JLP in 2002, he started an exodus that left the NDM a shadow of its former self.
Mike Williams was an active member of the JLP for 27 years before, he says, "I got kicked out", for trying to interest the JLP leadership in adopting some of the NDM's policies. "I was always a supporter of the NDM," he says. "But in 2002, I became a member."
He says he is working hard to bring the NDM back to life so they can work on some serious national priorities. "Crime and justice are our biggest problems," he says. "We have a backlog of nearly 500,000 cases in the RM Court. Government has to invest more in the justice system. This draconian crime bill will not solve anything. They are already detaining people without charge for two months, so when they are allowed 60 days, where are we going to put all these people? What will happen to the innocent ones? We're doing the same thing and expecting a different result."
Williams has vowed to declare the source of all NDM donations as he wants the party to walk the talk of openness. "We don't want to take over from the PNP or JLP, we just want them to do the right thing," he says. "So I hope their supporters will support the NDM - we'll keep their leaders honest."
The other three national priorities, as Williams sees them, are economic opportunities, early childhood education and a review of the health payment system. "In farming, one acre can give you two jobs," he says. "In manufacturing, one acre can give you 40 jobs. The government should have a target of 100,000 economic opportunities each year with assistance for facilities, equipment, management guidelines and a system for non-collateral loans."
"For early childhood education, we need to have trained teachers for the three-to-six age group who focus on two things: reading and reasoning," says Williams. "Can you imagine if this were done? In less than 10 years, we would have 60,000 literate children entering high school!" Williams says that it must have been a rude awakening for Education Minister Andrew Holness when he discovered that garrisons had to be maintained by illiterate people. "No one from a well-ordered constituency will jump on a bus back," he commented.
As we look at the rise of non-traditional parties and new political alliances in Britain and elsewhere, as we feel the longing for an open and honest society, it may well be that the time for the NDM has finally arrived.
lowriechin@aim.com
www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, June 28, 2010
THE BBC website showed a smiling Christopher "Dudus" Coke arriving in New York on Thursday, flanked by US marshals. Why was he smiling? Was he happy that he did not suffer the fate of his father who died in a mysterious fire while awaiting extradition in 1992? Was it because he had "secrets" that will either make him safe, or bring others down with him?
Back in Jamaica, there was laughter over the strange appearance of this "strongman" in a wig, apprehended on the Mandela Highway in the company of the Rev Al Miller, the government-appointed head of Jamaica's National Transformation Movement. While Dudus was being extradited, Al Miller was being slapped with charges of perverting the course of justice and harbouring a fugitive. He gave a hilarious press interview when he emerged from the police station after being granted bail.
WILLIAMS... so many people did not have to die, that is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry.
WILLIAMS... so many people did not have to die, that is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry. 1/1 These events have left neither of our two major political parties smelling like a rose. The general secretary of the NDM, Michael Williams, was making increasingly more sense as I listened to him holding forth on several discussion programmes. I decided that it was time to give him a hearing.
Mike Williams believes that the people of Jamaica have now felt the heavy hand of garrison politics and may want to support his party, to become their "conscience" in the House of Parliament. "Our objective is not to topple either the JLP or PNP," said Williams. "We want to have a voice in Parliament and to promote openness and accountability."
Williams claims that there are four JLP and 12 PNP garrisons in Jamaica, breeding grounds for criminals led by dons who are allowed to do as they please in the years between elections just as long as they deliver the victory to the party defended by the garrison. "Just look at which parties the lawyers come from who defend these dons, and you will know the party they are supporting," says Williams.
He believes that the Tivoli operation could have been peaceful if Bruce Golding had asked Edward Seaga to accompany him to the community, and they had made a joint appeal in person to dismantle the barricades. He opines that the people would have cooperated. "Why did they have to go in the night?" he asked. "It would have been quite different, if they had gone in the day with the cameras behind them."
"Tivoli is not such a big place," says Williams. "They could have easily surrounded it and posted forces at all of those tunnels. It should have been done in daylight. So many people did not have to die. Mr Clarke did not have to die. This is why the NDM is calling for an inquiry."
Asked how the NDM would have handled the extradition order, Williams said, "If we were the government, we would have implemented the order as soon as it came down. We got a copy and there was enough evidence for the action. It was full of detailed statements."
Recounting the NDM's history, Williams said it was ex-JLP member Brascoe Lee and others who formed the NDM in 1995 with Bruce Golding as its president. Golding's defeat on the NDM ticket in the 1997 elections was a huge blow to the aspirations of the party which had attracted such stars as Wayne Chen, Hyacinth Bennett, Chris Tufton and Gregory Mair. When Bruce Golding returned to the JLP in 2002, he started an exodus that left the NDM a shadow of its former self.
Mike Williams was an active member of the JLP for 27 years before, he says, "I got kicked out", for trying to interest the JLP leadership in adopting some of the NDM's policies. "I was always a supporter of the NDM," he says. "But in 2002, I became a member."
He says he is working hard to bring the NDM back to life so they can work on some serious national priorities. "Crime and justice are our biggest problems," he says. "We have a backlog of nearly 500,000 cases in the RM Court. Government has to invest more in the justice system. This draconian crime bill will not solve anything. They are already detaining people without charge for two months, so when they are allowed 60 days, where are we going to put all these people? What will happen to the innocent ones? We're doing the same thing and expecting a different result."
Williams has vowed to declare the source of all NDM donations as he wants the party to walk the talk of openness. "We don't want to take over from the PNP or JLP, we just want them to do the right thing," he says. "So I hope their supporters will support the NDM - we'll keep their leaders honest."
The other three national priorities, as Williams sees them, are economic opportunities, early childhood education and a review of the health payment system. "In farming, one acre can give you two jobs," he says. "In manufacturing, one acre can give you 40 jobs. The government should have a target of 100,000 economic opportunities each year with assistance for facilities, equipment, management guidelines and a system for non-collateral loans."
"For early childhood education, we need to have trained teachers for the three-to-six age group who focus on two things: reading and reasoning," says Williams. "Can you imagine if this were done? In less than 10 years, we would have 60,000 literate children entering high school!" Williams says that it must have been a rude awakening for Education Minister Andrew Holness when he discovered that garrisons had to be maintained by illiterate people. "No one from a well-ordered constituency will jump on a bus back," he commented.
As we look at the rise of non-traditional parties and new political alliances in Britain and elsewhere, as we feel the longing for an open and honest society, it may well be that the time for the NDM has finally arrived.
lowriechin@aim.com
www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com