Portia Simpson Miller gets more orange shirts than Peter Phillips to win PNP presidency
After weeks of smearing, charges and counter charges the Peoples National Party PNP finally had its presidential elections yesterday after Peter Phillips challenged party president Portia Simpson Miller for the presidency. The Peter Phillips “Arise and renew” faction failed and flattered miserably for the second unsuccessful bid for the top job. The Portia Simpson led Team PNP” delivered what could be a knockout blow winning by 2332 delegates to Phillips 1969 delegates, the difference being 373 delegates. Mrs. Simpson Miller cornering the poor people vote and people who love the colour orange which help put her over the edge.
Roger Clarke is still searching for his blue card so that he can get to vote.
Love her or hate you have to give credit to a hand well played to Portia Simpson Miller. As I listened to her speech and watch this election there were a few things said that resonates with me. Earlier in the day she said after becoming president of the party in 2006 she kept the same team and even promoted a few of those who didn’t support her and instead supported her opponent. She also said that after she lost to former Prime Minister PJ Patterson years earlier she put aside personal ambition and gave him her full support.
With tunes like “Tarus Reilly’s-“she’s royal” and Shaggy’s-strength of a woman blaring in the national arena Simpson-Miller made mention of the symbolic glass ceiling. Immediately my thoughts went back to the US elections in the primaries where Mrs. Clinton talked about putting 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. Well last night Mrs. Miller said she put a “dent” in the glass ceiling. I have never heard of a “dent” glass before so my guess is that Peter Phillips will be calling a mechanic to repair and re-enforce impact.
Out side the arena where Philips supporters congregate it was a somber mood. The bitter taste of defeat once again. Already they had pulled down tents and hassled out of the area. All the major supporters of the “arise and renew team” who were on television beaming with confidence earlier in the day were now invisible and hiding. There was even a woman with her head slouch on top of a car crying. I think it was because her bus to St. Thomas left her.
There was one middle aged man decked out in his Peter Phillips t-shirt, hat, pants, watch, and Phillips state of mind who was visibly upset. He articulated his views to the TVJ reporter very well and made some interesting points.
“the PNP need a better quality of delegates”
Translation?, the delegates are stupid, not intelligent enough to make a rational decision. He said if a person made a decision that was “fully thought out” then they could not come to the conclusion of keeping Simpson Miller as president of the party. He does have a point and if I might opine to agree with him.
As a political junkie excuse me while I put on my political analysis hat. Sort of like a beer mug for a drunk. The obvious fact remain that Mrs. Simpson Miller is a very popular figure in Jamaican politics. It is almost chilling when you hear some supporters telling you why they support her. It’s all passion. “mi love Poosha”-“Poosha, Poosha, Poosha”. I love her too but if there was any doubt about her leadership after the debate last year before the election is any indicator it is hard at this moment to see why anyone have confidence in her administration.
A friend of mine who supports Mrs. Simpson-Miller told me that just because Bruce Golding can articulate better doesn’t necessarily mean he would be a better Prime Minister. Sometimes politics is contradictory and confusing. As a Jamaican who has finally gotten an opportunity to see both parties in the drivers seat I hardly see any real difference. In my estimation the only try difference is green and orange.
As to her ability to manage a country, during the 18 months she was Prime Minister I didn’t see any major faults with her tenure although I think she squandered a huge opportunity to make an impression on the Jamaican electorate. There was no major crisis to deal with except for the tainted cement issue which she dealt with satisfactorily by lowering tariffs and allowing imports to deal with the shortage. There was the island wide blackout by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) which she ordered an “investigation”-“report” which by the way is the same thing our current government has done with the blackout and even the prank JPS is playing on customers with these ridiculous electricity bills.
There were also Trafigura and the light bulb scandals which really tainted her administration badly. I think that Mrs. Simpson Miller is getting better as time goes by and this is why I think so. Notice that there is no longer a “team Portia” but a “team PNP” one might say this is trivial but the strategy is to not make the party about her or as they say in the media “personalities”. In the last general election the Jamaica Labour Party JLP tore apart Portia the candidate, may not remind you of those ads on television check youtube to refresh your memory. Also while listening to this campaign the once fire burn chant to the hypocritical media was completely reverse with warm embrace. In her speech she thanked the media several times.
In an interview yesterday on television she said:
“ I kept the same team because it was the a-team”
When asked about unity in the party by reporters she responded:
“Can one side unite anything?”
She also said that if she had done what she needed to do she would have won the last election. Translation?, get rid of the same old faces at the top and bring in new blood. Did you see the way that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown fired his fellow party folks just for enquiring about nomination papers? I wonder if she is going to take a page out of his book.
Friendlier to the media, taking the focus off herself and acknowledging past mistakes, these are all signs of a smarter politician.
I almost forgot Dr Phinn the reverend with a crystal ball who predicted she would be elected Prime Minister last year was nowhere to be found. The new pastor is Rev Mel Gordon he led the National Arena into prayer before Mrs. Simpson Miller spoke but we are still waiting to find out if he has a crystal ball also.
Kingston State Of Mind 
I’m not a fan of this whole politics thingy, but i heard someone say that Peter Phillips couldn’t win because he is a womanizer. I laughed.
Ah Dutty Bwoy,Jamaicans,in this particular case,the delegates of the Peoples National Party(PNP) do have a proclivity and a predilection to glamourize and be dazzled,mesmerized,opiated,and stupefied by the mediocrity of their political elites,with their undistinguished,unexceptional,middling to passable track record, after inordinately excessive periods in politics and public life,by constantly returning such exhausted and failed politicians to leadership position(s),as was witnessed on September 20th,2008, with Mrs. Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller being re-elected to the Presidency of a once august and venerable political party.That such a behaviour—political psychology— can be classified as an an unwholesome condition or malady in the form of a pathology,is definitely not an understatement.Interestingly,in this particular case,it can be titled THE MALADY of POOSHA And HER LOVE FOR THE POOR!!
With respect to the disappointed PNP delegate, who voiced that the PNP need a better set or quality of delegates.I concur with this delegate,totally.It will be interesting to observe Ms. Simpson-Miller in her second dispensation as leader of the PNP.Hopefully,the political maturation process has benefitted her to some degree.Quite frankly,interesting times lie ahead with her at the helm of the cultic PNP with its opiated masses of poor people.
Dutty – in your opinion, do you believe that PM Simpson was a competent PM while she held office? For example, was she the person who ordered the re-building and re-engineering of the airport, etc. (Which have been mismanaged for decades)?
If she was doing well, why was she booted out in – if I remember correctly – 8 months? That’s so ignorant of the people. How can anyone be successful in 8 months? People have to give leaders the opportunity to put plans in place and do their job.
How successful has Golding been since he’s been in office. What has he accomplished? Has he delivered on anything he promised while campaigning? For example, education.
Was Simpson booted out ‘because dem nevah want a woman’? That by itself is a different form of ignorance and shows lack of sophistication, cleverness and a willingness to vote against their own self interest. Crazy.
Paulette-I Before Ms Simpson Miller was elected president of the party in my own personal opinion I think the the PNP had spent enough time in office. They did a lot of things but corruption, crime, failing schools among other headaches I can not begin to mention. As a young Jamaican I thought it was time. After Mrs. Simpson Miller was elected I was hoping that it would be different with her. Lets take a Que from the current US election it was like PJ’s 5th term, more of the same. The slogan was “full speed ahead” on the same course. Jamaicans were tired of that. When she first got the presidency she had an approval rating well over 70% if an election was held then she would have won with a landslide. In any country there are bound to be prejudices and yes there might be some who are sexist but I believe in the decency of the majority of the Jamaican people not to discriminate on that basis. Its easy to say sexism but the truth is she was not showing that she is the leader in charge. i am not just speaking generally there are specific issues and encounters causes these doubts.
She was PM for 18 months now, not 8 and things happened during this time including more scandals like Trafigura, light bulb foolishness it was like the last 18 years, more of the same, same people in cabinet. Silliness like being appointed by god and having a Rev who determine election dates based on numbers and luck. even if that was their belief keep it private. Mrs. Simpson Miller said it herself Saturday ” If I had done what I was suppose to do I would have won the election”. meaning she should have cleaned house. she didn’t.
Jamaicans were tired of the PNP not that the JLP is any better now. I have never experience any other government other than the PNP. I personally have never voted(Shame) but I wanted change too. If you haven’t seen the debate with her and Mr Golding I beg you try and watch it. I can tell you that after 1 year with this current government i am not impressed either. They are really a different people but not much has changed. It kind of bring a sense of hopelessness when who you look for leadership and it fails you, where one should we turn to.
Well when you are popular in a country that doesn’t vote on issues but on who can stir up their emotions, due to their level of educational maturity, you can win. I ‘m not taking any sides though, as all politicians are thieves and liars as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks for the clarification Dutty.
Since I no longer live in JA I hate to push my nose in stuff I’m not up to my ears in every day. I hate to discuss something I don’t know the nuisances about.
From a distance, I believe Jamaica needs some new blood.
Einstein says that a sign of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
PNP and JLP have no new ideas. IT’s time for some new and hopefully young blood that can re-energize Jamaica politically, socially and economically.
But who and where from?
If I had been a delegate, I would have abstained as an act of protest. Both of them have just been abominable, and shown exactly how addicted they are to being the one “in charge”. Even in the fray, they had the opportunity to articulate ideas and visions of leadership that would rise above the competition for who’s going to THE leader. Neither of them seem to understand that the future of the PNP does not lie with either of these characters; but us ordinary party-lovin folks are so enamoured of their chosen “leader” that we cannot see that neither is offering us anything new or even substantial. As always, folks vote with their emotions, not their capacity for reason, so if you can’t stir them to move past their ability to think, then you can’t win. Never mind that Portia “love” poor people so much that she has done her fair share in keeping them poor. Phillips and company banked too much on the general disdain for women and poor people, and the perceptions that these groups are idiots and obstacles to progress. Some of us are just really pissed off that, once again, he thought he could play the class/gender card so blatantly, and still think he could win. I don’t think that everyone is as for Portia – although there is a whole heap of Poosha nuts for sure – as some are against Phillips and company for their hateful mud-slinging campaign. Some of them really need to secede: they behave and think just like labourites.
I think one of the main reasons that Portia won is because the delegates don’t like Peter Phillips personally. Portia was put in her position because she is a glorified mouthpiece for PJ Patterson and is easy to control-Don’t you think that its funny that one of her biggest supporters is Phillip Paulwell? One of the biggest thieves in politics. Peter Phillips on the other hand, has his own agenda that doesn’t coincide with what they want so they can’t control him as easily. I’m not discounting the fact that he made flaws in his campaign but this is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. People in power generally don’t want intelligent people in good positions because they can’t be controlled so easily. Again, one of the reasons why Portia was brought on board. She believes that she runs the PNP but the PNP really run her-Just look at how little control she has. Sadly, I used to support her but now I realize that she’s not a good leader. The only hope she has now is that Bruce really screws up as prime minister during his tenure.
Jamaica needs to sseriously consider the possibility of voting for a new party like the NDM or someone else because I am so sick of both the PNP and JLP.