JAMAICA: LOOMING STRUGGLE FOR LEADERSHIP OF THE

S E C R E T KINGSTON 000647 SIPDIS DEPT PASS CENTRAL AMERICAN CARIBBEAN BASIN COLLECTIVE DEPT FOR WHA/CAR - ANDRE CADIEUX, VELIA DE PIRRO INR/IAA - BOB CARHART WHA/EPSC - MATT ROONEY INL/LP - NATALIA BOZZOLO INL/G-TIP - BARBARA FLECK TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW JUSTICE FOR ROBERT LIPMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR SOCI SNAR ASEC ECON EFIN KCRM KCOR, IBRD, IABD, JM, XL SUBJECT: JAMAICA: LOOMING STRUGGLE FOR LEADERSHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PEOPLE'S NATIONAL PARTY (PNP); PRIME MINISTER GOLDING HAS NO PLANS TO CALL A SNAP NATIONAL ELECTION ANYTIME SOON REF: A. 08 KINGSTON 245 (191809Z MAR 08)(NOTAL) ¶B. 08 KINGSTON 571 (251519Z JUN 08)(NOTAL) ¶C. 08 KINGSTON 621 (112013Z JUL 08)(NOTAL) ¶D. 08 KINGSTON 310 (141908Z APR 08)(NOTAL) ¶E. 08 KINGSTON 364 (291558Z APR 08)(NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador B.L. Johnson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Summary, Analysis, and Comment -------------- 1.(C) Respected former Minister of National Security Peter Phillips will challenge former Prime Minister (PM) Portia Simpson-Miller for the presidency of the opposition People's National Party (PNP) during the annual party conference in September. Phillips shrewdly has calculated that, in order to wrest the leadership from the populist, charismatic Simpson-Miller, time is no longer working in his favor, and thus has thrown down the gauntlet -- marking the first time a sitting PNP President has been challenged in the party's 70-year history. 2.(C) A crime wave; soaring inflation, food, and fuel costs; the latest opinion poll results; and prospective court rulings combine to make it unlikely that PM Golding will risk a snap general election this year unless at least one, and preferably both, of the following conditions were to hold: -- an unanticipated court ruling were to imperil the narrow parliamentary majority of Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP); -- the leadership struggle between Simpson-Miller and Phillips were to so badly fragment the weakened opposition PNP that Golding could be confident of gaining a significant number of parliamentary seats. The PM does not have to call elections for another four years; speaking privately with Ambassador, he has confirmed he has no intention of doing so anytime soon. 3.(C) The worst outcome of the looming PNP struggle would be a party in which the influence of the more moderate and pragmatic Phillips faction had been sharply diminished, with Simpson-Miller remaining Opposition Leader surrounded by, and beholden to, such left-wing loyalists as Donald Buchanan, Paul Burke, and Phillip Paulwell. Looking ahead, if the current JLP Government fails in its economic and national security reform efforts and Golding loses the next election, Simpson-Miller then would return to power and form the next government with Phillips and his supporters relegated to the back-bench. In such a scenario, Jamaica could go the way of Haiti: fatally riven by crime, poverty, drugs, gangs, social disintegration, and emigration -- all the more reason for strong U.S. support of Golding s ongoing reforms. End Summary, Analysis, and Comment. Background: a Marathon Game of Political Chess -------------- - 4.(C) Phillips' recent announcement of his intention to seek the presidency of the People's National Party (PNP) during the annual party conference in September is the latest move in a labyrinthine game of three-dimensional political chess which has been underway since May, 2002, when newly-reelected former Prime Minister (PM) P.J. Patterson announced he would not lead the PNP in any future elections. Patterson touched off a bitter succession struggle for the party presidency among the seasoned heir-apparent Phillips, then-Finance Minister Omar Davies, and the charismatic populist Portia Simpson-Miller (PSM). PSM's eventual victory left deep wounds from which, despite an outward veneer of unity during the 2005-06 PNP Government, the party never has recovered (reftel A). The once-vaunted PNP machine has lost three successive elections: the 2003 local government election, the general election of 2007, and another subsequent local government election. Why Throw Down the Gauntlet Now? -------------- 5.(C) Opposition Leader PSM's spirits have been lifted by two recent polls: one giving her a personal popularity rating six points ahead of incumbent PM Bruce Golding (still favored by a plurality as the best leader of the country),and a second indicating that the PNP has pulled to within two percentage points of Golding's ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in overall support. Buoyed by the first encouraging news in months, PSM's supporters have decried the timing of Phillips decision to challenge her for the leadership; some accuse him of recklessly sacrificing the party's interests in pursuit of personal ambitions. In Post's estimate, the 58-year old Phillips' move is anything but reckless: it has been calculated carefully and timed strategically, based on the following factors: (A) An alarming crime wave, resurgent inflation, and high oil and food prices are taking a heavy toll on average Jamaicans (reftels B,C,D). Coming from humble origins and representing the grass-roots, populist wing of the PNP, the charismatic PSM is a master at projecting empathy with the poor and downtrodden. Given her recent up-tick in the polls, Phillips can no longer safely assume that she would lose a possible snap general election, should Golding call one, and subsequently be ousted as PNP Leader. ((Comment: Post believes this would have been Phillips' preferred route to the PNP presidency -- but it now looks unlikely: in the course of a lengthy private meeting with Ambassador on July 21 (septel),PM Golding confirmed that he does not plan to call an election anytime soon. End Comment.)) (B) The Court of Appeal will not hear the application of defeated PNP candidate Abe Dabdoub, who is seeking to be awarded the West Portland parliamentary seat without having to face a by-election against the JLP's Daryl Vaz (disqualified because of dual citizenship, reftels D,E) until November 24. Few observers believe Dabdoub's application will prevail, fewer still that he could win a by-election. PM Golding has stated publicly that, rather than allowing members-of-parliament (MPs) to be seated by the courts without having been elected, he would call a snap general election. Yet most observers believe that, both in West Portland and several other constituencies in which JLP MPs face similar legal challenges, the most likely eventual outcomes are by-elections won by the incumbents ) thus leaving the narrow 32-28 JLP parliamentary majority intact. (C) In light of the above ) crime, inflation, polling results, and prospective court rulings ) PM Golding is likely to call a snap general election this year only if at least one, and preferably both, of the following conditions hold: -- an unanticipated court ruling imperils the narrow JLP parliamentary majority; -- the leadership struggle between PSM and Phillips so badly fragments a weakened, polarized PNP that the ruling JLP could be confident of gaining a significant number of parliamentary seats. After all, Golding does not have to call elections for another four years, and would be taking a real risk in doing so. (D) Finally, with the PNP's coffers seriously depleted, Phillips is universally recognized by the party faithful as the better fund-raiser, enjoying closer ties to the middle- and upper-classes and business community. A number of influential PNP organizers and activists reportedly have shifted their support from PSM to Phillips (including, ominously, at least one figure with reputed underworld connections). Factoring in all the above trends, Phillips shrewdly has calculated that, in order to wrest the PNP leadership from the charismatic PSM, time is no longer working in his favor ) and thus has thrown down the gauntlet in advance of the annual party conference. How Divisive a Showdown? -------------- 6.(C) Given the bitter history of rivalry between them and their respective PNP factions (reftel A),whether Phillips and PSM can again contest the leadership without fatally weakening the party is an open question. Phillips is likely to avoid frontal attacks against the charismatic Opposition Leader, instead acknowledging her loyal service to the party while portraying himself as the better-organized, more-seasoned figure who can defeat Golding whenever the next election may come and thus return the PNP to power. For her part, PSM is unlikely to yield the leadership gracefully: she recently stated publicly that: "when I hand over the baton, it will not be to my generation, but to the next generation of young persons of the People's National Party." Possible Implications for U.S. Policy -------------- 7.(C) From Post's perspective, the worst outcome of the looming PNP struggle would be a party in which the influence of the more moderate and pragmatic Phillips faction had been sharply diminished, with Simpson-Miller remaining Opposition Leader surrounded by, and beholden to, such left-wing PSM-loyalists as Donald Buchanan, Paul Burke, and Philip Paulwell (reftel A). Looking ahead, if the current JLP Government fails in its economic and national security reform efforts and Golding loses the next election, Simpson-Miller then would return to power and form a new government in which Phillips and his supporters would be relegated to the back-bench. As noted reftel (B),in this scenario Jamaica could go the way of Haiti -- fatally riven by crime, poverty, drugs, gangs, social disintegration, and emigration -- all the more reason for strong U.S. support of Golding's ongoing reforms. JOHNSON