To the man and woman at street level, the two main parties that have shared political power since 1944 — the PNP and the JLP — are known more for their warts, boils and unholy alliances with a destructive subculture than they are known for development of the people, the economy and the country’s infrastructure.

More than the JLP, the PNP, which in its last run occupied the seat of power for 18 1/2 years between February 1989 to September 2007, should at this time be like Wray and Nephew white rum in that its fame should have preceded it and it should not have to advertise. More than the JLP, it should have created precedence in economic growth as it held power at a time when the region and the rest of the world were enjoying record growth rates. The PNP can make no such claims.

More than the JLP, in its over 18 years when it had time to research the criminal underworld, it should have broken the back of organised crime. The PNP can make no such claim, as during its run Jamaica became the murder capital of the world.

During the PNP’s run, it engaged in a deliberate swelling of the ranks of the public sector with no commensurate growth in efficiencies. In the area of housing solutions and development of the country’s main highways, the PNP stood out. It must be credited with that, but any party which had a run of over 18 years should have had more success stories to its name.

In this the period of blame and counter blame, especially where the world is entering a dangerous phase akin to another recession (as if the first one had been solved) and large corporations are laying off workers, the PNP in opposition now has all the answers which eluded it in its over 18 years in power.

Both political parties first will be going after the most gullible, that is, their robotic diehards. In the hope that we have a constituency of politically sophisticated people who have never allied themselves to anything but policy successes, both the JLP and the PNP will be hoping to snare those after.

Are there legitimate policy solutions to be found in the ranks of the third parties? Betty Ann Blaine’s NNC seems to believe that with God all things are possible, so her possibilities are to be found in her exhortation to the people not to vote until a raft of problems are solved. Which is probably her way of saying that her party is nowhere near ready, so the people should wait another 20 years until it is.

I congratulate the NDM and the Marcus Garvey People’s Political Party (MGPPP) for throwing their hat in the ring and doing what political parties do – participate in elections. Now I do not believe that president of the NDM, Earl deLisser, Chairman Peter Townsend and Gen Sec Mike Williams reasonably expect to win any seats or score anywhere near 5,000 votes islandwide, but it is a political party and it must make more than its mouth available to the people. Meanwhile, Betty Ann Blaine of the New Nation Coalition (NNC) will be going to the mountaintop to meet with God. I wish her well.

Had this country reached the educational level and the brand of sophistication needed to examine ccritically all aspects of our polity, third parties would have much better chances at the polls. In fact, were that so, even the third parties would take themselves more seriously than they do now.

The leadership of the PNP has been characterised by sound bites and it is rare that Simpson Miller has issued anything other than, “Wi ready” or “Victory, victory”. While there are places for that kind of political rant, it ought to come in the back end, after hard policy issues and genuine critiques of the ruling JLP have been made, but she is what she is.

In fact, apart from a few glitches from the new PM Andrew Holness, the platform announcements from the JLP leader have been basically sound, riveted and mostly an invitation to the electorate to examine both parties and make a choice. Meanwhile, what we have been hearing from the PNP leader are words to the effect that Holness will be the shortest-serving PM.

One of my most faithful readers e-mailed me recently. He wrote, “I see from reading the Observer and Gleaner that the election season is in full swing. I read an article in the Observer, December 7 where Mrs Simpson Miller was attacking the credibility of the PM. More of the same.

“How about telling those gathered what the PNP plan is to cure the economic and social ills facing the nation. What is the PNP’s solution? But then again, she is from the “old guard” type of politics and clearly is not capable of new political learning.

‘While the PNP faced scandals when it was in power, it has never faced a scandal like the “Dudus” affair. If the PNP loses the election, that would be two losses for Mrs Simpson Miller as party leader and that if nothing else would be the signal for her to go. Also, if the JLP wins, it would be an amazing comeback from apparent political doom.

“Mind you, I am a PNP supporter from the time I was young, the glory days of Manley and the 1970s. But the present PNP leadership, especially Mrs Simpson Miller, through to Mr Davies, Mr Pickersgill and Mr Nicholson seem weak and out of touch too; they do not appeal to me at all and I cannot support them in good conscience. Mr Phillips I admire, but as long as Mrs Simpson Miller a ‘run tings’ I cannot support the PNP.”

The prime minister needs to clarify his statement on media bias. Although it is quite clear that the media are mostly PNP friendly, Mr Holness must be aware that during the PNP’s long run, it had the time to infiltrate all organisations. Indeed, the PNP even absorbed almost all of the firebrands who were part of Trevor Munroe’s now defunct Workers Party of Jamaica (WPJ) in the 1970s and those in the union offshoot of the party, the UAWU.

The JLP begins with more garrisons aligned against it and more of those in the media arrayed in favour of the PNP. In any case, the PM is someone I know and he has never struck me as being hostile to the media. He needs to clarify his position.

As the season heats up, I am heartened by the friendly one-on-one, candidate vs candidate hosted by Nationwide radio. It is a huge difference to the open hostility which was a feature of the 1970s politics. Maybe there is hope for us, after all.

I would love to see Nationwide interview more of those from the third parties so that we can determine if they are anything more than stand-up comedians.

observemark@gmail.com