by Dr. Wendel Abel
THe election results on 29 December took many people by surprise. They leave a lot of people in a State of shock, disbelief and fainted. I’ve taken some time to do an analysis of psychological factors contribute to Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ‘s loss and justification Portia Simpson-Miller. Ponder these factors :
1. the JLP is off message: they fail to focus on their accomplishments over the past four years and to create hope for the future. Instead they focused on attack Portia Simpson-Miller and also focuses on other issues, such as homosexuality, which is obviously not important to voters.
2. Attack media is political suicide. Never attack the media. A few weeks before the election, JLP began attacking the media. Some people expressed concern to me about this dangerous and worrying trend. Besides the fact that it is gone, never to act wise to attack the media, especially close to the election.
3. the victim Syndrome. The ads focused on attacking G2K Portia Simpson-Miller actually backfire. This clearly goes beyond advertising. Many people are offended by it. It was made a martyr of Simpson Miller and actually generated sympathy and votes, especially among women, who think that it is a depiction of Simpson Miller was unfair and insensitive to women especially those of certain social classes that represent the majority of our population. In addition, some people find ads demean and unethical. Many people feel really indebted G2K appoints the Prime Minister’s apology, as advertising bordering on harassment. Interestingly, it’s worth noting that Simpson Miller and the people’s national party (PNP) take the moral high ground in that they do not respond to direct ads.
4. pride. Pride. Pride. “Pride goeth before destruction and haughty spirit before a fall”. JLP has become very arrogant, detached and disconnected from the masses. They have stopped listening to the people, as a result they come from the message. For example, Daryl Vaz statement on political platforms related to weeding out of the public servants not only come across as arrogant, but it generated a lot of fear. The Government is the largest employer. The comment angered many and generating insecurity and confusion.