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If the National Executive Council (NEC) of the People's National Party (PNP) was waiting with bated breath for party leader Mark Golding to raise the issue of the widening schism in the party as part of his major address yesterday, it would have been sorely disappointed.
In an 11-page speech that drew on the glory days of party founder Norman Manley and the social revolution of his son, the charismatic Michael Manley, Golding reserved a final 24-word paragraph to address the most burning issue of the moment.
"Let us join hands and hearts, Comrades, and move forward as a united party in the interests of the Jamaican people. We are powerful together," Golding implored as he wrapped up his address at the PNP headquarters in Kingston.
The NEC, the party's most powerful organ, outside of national conference, was meeting amidst a leadership fallout, which has plunged the party into turmoil, dramatised last week by the resignation of top echelon officers including its chairman, three vice-presidents and the president of its youth arm.
It was expected that the issue would have topped Golding's address, although it would most certainly have been raised under any other business.
Journalists were not allowed into the private sessions and were sent the text of the president's address.
Instead, Golding devoted the most of his speech to a scathing attack on the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration for its poor handling of the novel coronavrus pandemic, the education system, and the hurting masses of the Jamaican people who are burdened by a high crime rate and soaring prices, with paltry government assistance.
"...Our society continues to be plagued by very high levels of inequality and violent crime. When we look at the economy at this time, we see that the real estate market has been resilient, producing housing solutions well outside the affordability of most Jamaicans," he said.
"In reality, this is another manifestation of inequality in our society, suggesting that more well-off Jamaicans have been surviving the economic downturn relatively unscathed.
"On the other hand, the majority of Jamaicans are reeling from a sliding dollar that has fallen to $155 to [US]$1, and price hikes in the basic food items like flour, rice, and chicken back that are staple nutrition for our people.
"The data shows that people earning the minimum wage are below the poverty line. The Government's response to protecting the most vulnerable Jamaicans, especially the unemployed and the informal self-employed, was their so-called compassionate grant, a single payment of $10,000 (less than US$100) more than a year ago. Nothing has been done since.
"That single disbursement was made in the run-up to the September 2020 General Election. A cynic could describe it as an exercise in State-sponsored vote-buying. Since then, the economic hardships facing the people have worsened, but the Government has done nothing more to help the people.
"... We have called for regular periodic disbursements of the compassionate grant until the economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels of GDP [gross domestic product] and employment. This call has fallen on deaf ears."
Recalling the high points of PNP history, Golding said the 1955-1962 Norman Manley Government achieved "the highest levels of economic growth in the world at that time", opened up secondary education through the introduction of the Common Entrance, and began the process of rationalising and expanding the islandwide electricity system.
"In the 1970s, the PNP under Michael Manley achieved a social revolution that marked the real transition from colonialism to Independence, especially in terms of the status of the masses of our people.
" 'No bastard no deh again'; equal pay for women; maternity leave with pay; the industrial disputes tribunal; and a labour code to bring justice at the workplace; massive housing programmes for low income persons living in abject poverty; and free education are all legacies Joshua left behind to uplift and empower the Jamaican people."
He also recalled far-reaching achievements in the P J Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller administrations, and urged party members to share a vision of the future that would be more attractive to young Jamaicans.
"The recently transformed Policy & Vision Commission will provide intellectual leadership within the party as we embark on a new era of ideological and philosophical self-discovery. This work is critical in a world that has shifted fundamentally and continues to change rapidly...
"Our future electoral success cannot rely solely on the achievements of our past. We must articulate an ambitious vision for the future that will attract Jamaican voters to our party, especially the younger generations who are more concerned about the type of country their Government will create for them.
"Looking at this from the orientation of democratic socialism and our identity as a progressive political movement, it is clear that the party must recommit to putting the people's development and well-being at the centre of our policies and programmes.
"When we in the People's National Party speak of 'People Power', it is because of our recognition that our people have been historically oppressed and marginalised in Jamaica, and it is the mission of our political movement to right those wrongs.
"The righting of those wrongs and the correction of the historical imbalances in our society, which continue to retard our national development, requires people-centric policies designed to strengthen and uplift the capacities and prospects of all Jamaicans, especially the masses of the people."