The People’s National Party (PNP) continues to go through a difficult but necessary period in its political evolution, and the process has and will continue to bear much fruit if it is steered properly. The 83-year-old movement has showed its resilience in times past and for its own sake and that of the country, it is being called upon to depict its strength once more.

Since its formation, the PNP has affirmed that it intends to be guided by the ideals that allow for it to stick close to the plight of Jamaicans and so it chose the path of democratic socialism. This ideology provoked the mind of Michael Manley and so in 1974 he and several others sought to refine the term democratic socialism and by so doing created some core ideals on which the PNP has stood for over five decades.

When you analyse the history of the party you immediately realise that the party is not about the individuals that lead it, but rather the individuals it aspires to lead. The PNP is more than capable of displaying the level of political maturity, foresight, and resilience required to survive the political diseases such as hunger for power, self-interest, self-gratification, factions, etc.

The idea that the party is self-imploding and that it has become a one-man party is no less ludicrous as it is untrue. It goes without saying that the party has to have a leader and that there can be only one leader for any one party at any one time. Now moving on from that truism, one will immediately realise that the internal structures of the PNP remains and what has changed are simply personalities.

The members of the party must seek not to create a power vacuum where none exists and to rubbish the notion that there is a line one must join in a democratic movement. There is a leader, elected for and by the people, whom they determined was the better of the two options presented to them and that is the conclusion of the whole matter.

“Once a Comrade always a Comrade” is a party mantra and what it means to members of the organisation is that they are not members through their ability or through their personality, but rather their belief in the PNP and what it stands for, which is to champion the cause of the less fortunate and impoverished among us. For any country that concerns itself with sustainable development must first sustain its attempts at developing its most valuable resource, its human resource. Only a fully renewed PNP, with the author not attempting to externally compare, can face the challenges of new Jamaica.

To be daunted that it went to the polls in 2020 and came away with only 14 seats is to forget that in standing up for the people and for democracy, as ironic as it may seem, the PNP, under the leadership of Michael Manley, boycotted the 1983 General Election, thereby garnering none of the 60 seats available at the time. The PNP cannot get any lower than 1983 and so it must be reminded that it has already been to its lowest valley and rose to win not just one but four consecutive general elections quite decisively with some of the highest voter turnouts the country has ever recorded.

Many Jamaicans may not have good relationships with their neighbours, but in times of disaster they are drawn together by their citizenship and common humanity to mitigate the crisis and recover together. A similar approach ought to be adopted by the PNP as energies are better served coming together and pulling in the same direction as they draw closer to the impending local government elections.

The PNP’s role in maintaining a democratic balance does not make it politically immortal, but rather what it does is to underpin the importance it is to society on a whole and to hammer home the point that it must never be allowed to die. It can spell disaster for a Jamaica to be ruled by a single party who answers to no one, or whose actions are not being checked by a viable opposition.

The future of the PNP has the potential to shine brighter than it has ever shone before for it lives for more than just itself. There is a Jamaican proverb that says, “Weh nuh dead, nuh dash it weh,” and though some view it as being broken, wounded , and divided, the PNP is slowly healing and above all, the heart of the PNP still beats.

willisjoseph92@yahoo.com