LEADER of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Andrew Holness says that a deep philosophical divide has led to the challenge to his leadership of the party.

“The reasons for the challenge are more than just the trivial and personal matters that have been fed to the press… who passed who and didn’t say hello, or who has a longer tongue for ‘ray ray’ politics,” Holness told Tuesday’s weekly meeting of the St Andrew Rotary Club at the Four Seasons Hotel in Kingston.

“There is a deep political divide in the Jamaica Labour Party. There is a view held by some that the JLP has better policies and are superior managers and, therefore, all we need to do is to rally and rev up the political machinery of the party and we will win the government,” Holness said.

“It is a workable strategy, and many will say that there is nothing wrong with this view. However, I view it as a short-cut approach and though you may very well win the government, you may not be able to govern the country,” he commented.

“You may very well be the Government, but you can’t get an IMF (International Monetary Fund) deal all by yourself; you need the cooperation of the unions and civil society to secure a wage freeze to get an IMF deal. The political party, therefore, is more than an election machine; the political party is a social organisation. While its main focus must be to win elections, the party must mean something to its supporters, outside of just elections,” he stated.

“Those who embrace the short-cut approach could be seen as transactional in their leadership. Indeed, they see politics as a transactional exchange of money and favours for support. The problem with this approach is that it leaves the people behind, nothing gets done with a transaction, there is no higher cause, there is reluctance for sacrifice, trust is low, those outside of the exchange circle are alienated and devalued.

“Indeed, that approach leads to the commodification of our politics. The greatest exposition of this was made in the statement that if you can’t win an election your should join the Rotary Club,” Holness said.

The Opposition Leader said that his party was at a point now in its development where it must strategically assess itself as a social institution and as a competitive political organisation.