Like most English speakers I was brought up to believe that the best leaders are those freely chosen by their people. If I have heard Churchill’s “Democracy is the worst form of government ever devised, except for all the others” once I have heard it a 100 times. (Of course Churchill also claimed that “The strongest argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter”.)

So I have always believed that as long as Jamaica preserved its democracy we the people would eventually find the right solutions to our problems. But after the July events in west Kingston I am no longer quite so sure. It is horrible enough that 27 people can be killed in three days and bodies left uncollected to rot in the sun. But what really depresses is the lack of spontaneous remorse displayed by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. Truly shocked leaders would have met immediately to see what could be done to prevent such a national tragedy from reoccurring. Instead Mr. Patterson and Mr. Seaga traded insults for a month before deigning to discuss the matter face to face. They remind me of two speeding drunk drivers who crash head on and kill all their passengers and then shout “It’s not my fault!”.

But how can either man not feel some responsibility for what happened? For surely these killings are a shameful rebuke to every politician who ever tolerated political gangsterism and turned a blind eye to the distribution of illegal guns. Are not those who allow them to be given out as guilty as those who pull the triggers?

Many talk about “limiting the damage to our image abroad”. Well in the present circumstances trying to improve Jamaica’s image abroad through advertising is almost like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. All the upbeat panoramas in the world can’t erase bodies left to rot in the sun. No country that markets itself as a tourist destination has a murder rate even close to Jamaica’s. Brazil is considered to have a serious crime problem. Yet our homicide rate was over 50% higher than Brazil’s last year and at the current pace will soon be almost double. And what is our leaders’ response to such looming disaster? They indulge in wild character assassination and drag up 15 year old documents. Talk about preferring to reign over a desert than be second in Rome!

After witnessing the callous unconcern both have shown for those killed and the nation’s welfare, I now understand how Venezuela could turf out its two traditional parties in favour of a quasi-military dictator like Hugo Chavez. Or how Pakistanis could cheer General Musharraf’s removal by force of an elected leader. Because if they continue to display such a total lack of regard for anything but their election prospects, I could never vote for either Patterson or Seaga again. How can a country be said to have a democracy when the leaders of both main parties act virtually like the moral equivalent of murderous gangsters seeking power at any price?

And yet what alternatives do we Jamaicans have to trying to solve our problems democratically? A civil war? Assassination? A military coup? A dictatorship? Alas the view is even bleaker in that direction. And surveying the Jamaican political landscape in desperation for even a glimmer of light, one’s eyes come to rest – if only because all else is total darkness – on the feebly flickering embers of the National Democratic Movement.

Ah yes. Well, the NDM is only a slightly less depressing prospect than the PNP or JLP. True the NDM has never armed gunmen or created garrisons, for which it must be given credit. But then the NDM has done practically nothing in its six years of existence. Indeed most Jamaicans now view the NDM more as an arrogant think tank than an organization dedicated to gaining political office by elected means. As the joke on the street goes, NDM really means “No Decisions Made”.

The NDM must surely be one of the most ineffective entities in the history of parliamentary democracy. Faced with an unpopular, incompetent government and a completely disorganized official opposition, it nevertheless managed to turn a 30% initial poll rating into 5% on election day.

But then even neophyte high school council candidates know that a newcomer has to tell people what he stands for if he hopes to get their vote. After six years the NDM has still to put forward a coherent platform or give the Jamaican people an understandable summary of the solutions it has for the nation’s problems. Not only did the party contest the 1997 elections without giving the public any clear idea of what policies it planned to implement if given power, it repeated its folly this year in North West St. Ann.

Einstein once described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. Well the individual members of the NDM seem sane enough, but as a collective entity its actions certainly fit this definition.

I am no party man and have always supported the NDM’s existence on the principle of free choice. The more alternatives people have in any sphere the better. But sometimes I wonder if the NDM has not harmed the Jamaican political process more than it has helped it. Because to many its incredible incompetence has practically killed the chances of any other third party ever breaking the PNP-JLP stranglehold on the Jamaican parliament. If the NDM with its national figures and initial corporate money couldn’t win a seat, they ask, what chance does any other new party that comes along have?

Yet I find myself prepared to again give the NDM another chance. What other choice do I have if I hope to cast a ballot in this country again and Messrs. Patterson and Seaga continue to behave more like terrorist leaders than democratic statesmen? Surely six years on the learning curve have at least taught the NDM what not to do. And maybe under Hyacinth Bennett’s new team it will finally begin to listen to the Jamaican people.

For most Jamaicans are sick of the murders and ready for almost any credible alternative. All we want is a properly organized party with well defined policies rejecting violence and corruption. Is that too much to ask of the democratic process?

As it stands Jamaica reminds me of a hungry man looking for a meal at two in the morning. There only three restaurants in town, but both P.J.’s Kitchen and Eddie’s Onestop are on fire. So he goes to Hyacinth and Bruce’s Snackshop where he sees a friend who says “Boy, the food here is terrible. And the portions are tiny. And the prices are exorbitant”. Well, says the man. What should I do? Eat here, or starve? changkob@hotmail.com