JLP shrugs off missed 100-day promises

Nearly a decade after Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness made bold governance pledges for his first 100 days in office - commitments that remain unfulfilled - the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is insisting that its failure to deliver will not hurt its chances at the polls.

On Wednesday, the JLP released a booklet highlighting 256 achievements since taking office in 2016. However, the document made no mention of key promises Holness made in 2016, including term limits for the office of Prime Minister, impeachment legislation, and setting a fixed date for general elections - all of which he vowed to begin implementing within his first 100 days.

When asked whether voters might now be sceptical about the party's ability to follow through on new promises, Kamina Johnson Smith, chair of the party's manifesto and achievements committee, responded firmly: "No."

"I think that the majority of Jamaicans judge us on the fact that we have been delivering on issues and matters that impact the majority," she said.

Johnson Smith pointed out that no CARICOM country has yet established a fixed election date and cited the example of Britain, which introduced such a measure in 2011 but later repealed it after finding it incompatible with their constitutional framework - a system similar to Jamaica's.

Johnson Smith contends that "even though you have written something, and you believe in it" governments have to be flexible when managing the country's affairs, especially if "the people are not demanding" the promised reforms.

The JLP spokesperson, who is the country's foreign minister, argued that the government's focus had necessarily shifted to more pressing issues that affect daily life. She said persons are concerned with getting water in their pipes, accessing improved social benefits, getting trained and certified, and finding a job that they need.

Among the achievements touted in the booklet by the JLP is the provision of piped water to 350,000 persons, removal of requirements for guarantors from the Student Loans Bureau, and 2,000 STEM scholarships that have been given to Jamaicans.

"Your focus and energy is put behind that, especially when you have two years stolen from you by COVID," Johnson Smith said.

She said an important part of governance involves adjusting objectives to meet the needs and desires of the majority of persons.

"Do I think, therefore, not having passed the legislation to insert fixed election date will undermine trust in our system and achievements, not at all," Johnson Smith said.

Similarly, Dr Christopher Tufton, the JLP's campaign director, appeared to have blamed COVID-19 for the government's failure to deliver to promised reforms.

"A manifesto is aspirational, an intention to achieve, but it involves a process, and I don't think that anyone is under any illusion that things don't always go the way you wanted," he said.

"None of us expected three years of COVID ... and that impacted several attempts at achieving fulsomely what we set out to achieve," Tufton said.