THE very last thing the Government wants to do is give the impression that it is afraid of consultation with the various elements of what constitutes the Jamaican people.

We would suggest to Prime Minister Mr Bruce Golding that he not allow himself to react to the actions of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), at the expense of engaging with the populace at large.

It is easy to believe that accepting the demands by the PNP to go early to Parliament would be tantamount to showing weakness and bowing to the Opposition. This is not necessarily the case.

The PNP has a point in calling on the Government to return to Parliament earlier than customary, to debate the proposed Letter of Intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and signal that the matter is of the utmost urgency. Because it is.

It is critical for the Government to keep its eye on the bigger picture and not be tempted to play petty politics at this time, even if the belief is that the PNP is doing so.

The IMF pact to be signed, hopefully sooner than later, will be one of the most far-reaching commitments that this country will make to any structured economic programme. It is likely to be followed by, for want of a better phrase, quarterly or periodic tests.

Such tests, as we have seen in the past, demand the greatest level of co-operation and compliance by various sections of the Jamaican economy. Put another way, it will be necessary to have the country pulling together, to sucessfully complete the programme.

Again, it is worth noting that in the past, failure of the periodic tests had resulted in even more stringent demands by the Washington-based Fund, which is doing everything to ensure that it can recoup the money it lends.

So, it is in all our interest to find a way to work through this together. That doesn’t stop the PNP or the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) from competing for power, but it does suggest that at some point the best interest of the country must come first.

It therefore behoves the Golding administration to weigh very carefully what Opposition action it can take on board and what it should dispense with.

The call to Parliament, we believe, is an excellent example of something the Government should have embraced, given the serious urgency of our immediate situation.

If we are as close to inking an agreement with the IMF, as we are led to believe, it should not be that difficult to present an outline which could form the basis for starting a debate.

Information Minister Mr Daryl Vaz has assured us that the technocrats worked through the Christmas and New Year holidays to have the Letter of Intent ready. Perhaps, what we need now is for the political directorate to show the same level of urgency.

It might not be more than symbolism. But sometimes symbolism is all that we have.