PORTIA POWERS DOWN
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. Then it slowly dissipates.
Like ractomine pork, political leaders many a times see themselves banned. No longer useful….past their sell by date..pushed or coaxed. The ushering out of the old and in with the new.
Portia played her role and played it well. It’s time for the curtain to go down on the show.
Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller, a woman of indomitable character became Jamaica’s 7th Prime Minister when she assumed office following the resignation of Prime Minister PJ Patterson on March 30, 2006. She lost to the Bruce Golding led JLP in 2007 but avenged her loss by getting her mandate when she became Prime Minister on January 5, 2012 – March 3, 2016.
Toasts raised
Many will raise toasts of convivial cheers and jeers and many will be sad. The bipolar personality which will affect the PNP as it elects another leader will be quite intriguing.
Portia Simpson Miller is a perfect marketing dream. She has proven to be a worthy competitor in the sales force of politics. She may not have possessed the desired skill sets but she sold herself very well.
Voters bought her first before they bought into the PNP product.
Was Portia smart? Her intelligence, emotional and otherwise have always been called into question. Her rash outbursts from the bully pulpit of a political platform may have been the definitive sedulous seed which provided the axe for her challengers to chop down her beanstalk.
And with subtlety down came the giant!
Did Portia meet her objectives? Was she SMART?
Was she S- specific in setting goals.
Was she M-easurable to others.
Were they A-ttainable. No unrealism.
Were they R-ealistic to happening.
What was the T-ime Frame
I say yes. She was and is SMART.
The silent thunder of frailties and foibles come a knocking and the boat goes a rocking. All the mechanistic explanations for her sudden resignation would all point to her somewhat diffident..arrogant and aloof peacock leadership skills.
Criticizing Portia Simpson Miller
Criticizing Portia Simpson Miller for being an out-of-touch, inept, petty Prime Minister and PNP Party leader seemed to have been the constant blot messing up her otherwise steady leadership of the PNP and her two stints as Prime Minister.
If one were to plot a graph showing the length of time of party leaders of both political parties – JLP and PNP- served, it will show that leadership has been constant albeit with a few challenges here and there.
The leadership of both Jamaica’s political parties over time has been smooth sailing with the flip flopping vicissitudes of change which naturally occur.
With that said, it is ironic that there is usually a calm leadership and peaceful transfer of political power while societal violence rages uncontrollably.
Was Portia forced?
Was Portia forced? Or was she her own gravedigger? In politics, individual ambition is a beast which cannot be slayed and this beast often crosses path with the political party’s goal of winning Elections… remaining in government and being ahead in the polls.
All political parties want to win elections and if a party leader is seen as stagnating the flow of progression, then the daggers of challenges come out and there’s a struggle for leadership.
We saw this with Andrew Holness and the JLP and it was magnified by the Gang of Five against former Prime Minister Edward Seaga.
In bidding Portia good bye and acknowledging her successes as well as her faults. She did no less…no worse than other Prime Minister before and she gave up without a fight.
She walked away with dignity and that is the apex of human personality.
Portia may have resigned but she will still be around.
Politicians are ambitious and all political parties want a winner of a leader- to win elections.
Portia played her role and played it well. It’s time for the curtain to go down on the show. No sympathy..no clarion cries of joy..no sad sadness. It is what is. Trees shed its leaves in the fall.
Author Profile
- I specialise in media and communications. I have also done subediting, pagination, feature writing. I believe in Jamaica's true gems - our people, skills, culture and more that makes us unique among the world's finest. I graduated from the University of the West Indies. Here are my thoughts. Enjoy, share! Link me here or or here
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