VZCZCXRO1646
OO RUEHGR
DE RUEHKG #0712/01 2651946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 221945Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0031
INFO EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0019
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0019

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 000712 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR (JMACK-WILSON) (BALVARADO) (VDEPIRRO) (WSMITH) 
L/LEI (CHOLLAND) (AKLUESNER) 
INR/IAA (GBOHIGAN) 
JUSTICE FOR OIA (PPETTY) 
TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW 
INR/RES (RWARNER) 
CENTRAL AMERICAN CARIBBEAN BASIN COLLECTIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ASEC SNAR KCOR KCRM JM XL ECON EFIN
IMF, CJAN, CVIS 
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: PEOPLE'S NATIONAL PARTY SHOWS NEW ENERGY AND UNITY 
AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE, ATTACKS GOJ ON ECONOMY AND EXTRADITION 
 
REF: REF: A. KINGSTON 699; B. KINGSTON 676; C. STATE 85807 
¶D. KINGSTON 634; E. KINGSTON 613; F. KINGSTON 611; G. KINGSTON 490 
¶H. 08 KINGSTON 884 
 
Summary: 
 
¶1.  (U) A seemingly rejuvenated and energized People's National 
Party (PNP) held its annual conference in Kingston over the 
weekend, at which party President and former Prime Minister (PM) 
Portia Simpson Miller (PSM) assailed the current Jamaica Labour 
Party (JLP) -led Government of Jamaica (GOJ) as "reckless," 
"bungling," and "incompetent" while publicly embracing former party 
rival Peter Phillips (Reftel H).  United behind a new slogan - 
"Renewing the Hope, Securing the Future" - a new Strategic Plan, 
and a new Progressive Agenda, the PNP went to great lengths to 
present itself as cohesive, vigorous, and ready to challenge the 
JLP, in contrast to the image of division and disarray that has 
been on display over much of the past two years.  End Summary. 
 
"Recklessness of the Bruce Golding Administration" 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
- 
 
¶2. (U) Incorporating elements of a religious revival, dancehall 
rave, and political rally, the raucous September 20th public 
conference session at Kingston's National Arena allowed PSM the 
opportunity to showcase her undisputed leadership of the party. 
Addressing a celebratory audience of hundreds of orange-clad PNP 
supporters, PSM lambasted PM Bruce Golding's two-year-old 
government on its management of the nation's economic crisis 
(Reftel D) and negotiations with the IMF (Reftel E), while 
defending the economic record of the previous PNP administration. 
In a show of unity, PSM publicly embraced vanquished rival Peter 
Phillips and former PM P. J. Patterson, then launched into a fiery 
attack on the JLP and Golding's two years in office that had the 
orange-clad rank and file on their feet.  No mention was made of 
the PNP's turmoil and disarray over the past year, nor the 
ill-advised PNP strategy of challenging JLP Members of Parliament 
(MPs) holding dual citizenship that has resulted in the expenditure 
of scarce resources on a series of unsuccessful by-elections 
(Reftel F). 
 
"The Driva Buy Him License" 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Accusing the JLP of "unleashing unprecedented levels of 
hardship on the Jamaican people," PSM excoriated the GOJ's economic 
record and accused the JLP of having failed to deliver on their 
2007 campaign promises: to raise public sector salaries, provide 
free educational and medical services, divest state-owned Air 
Jamaica and sugar companies, and reduce the nation's spiraling 
crime rate.  Reminding her audience that "we warned that it (the 
2007 JLP platform) would wreck the country," PSM recalled PM 
Golding's 2007 campaign pledge that what Jamaica needed was a good 
manager and "driva."  "It look like the driva buy him license," PSM 
mocked to the cheering throng. 
 
IMF: "Don't Bother To Come" 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) PSM accused Golding and the JLP of "a series of bungling and 
missteps" in the GOJ's negotiations to establish a new borrowing 
relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a 
controversial issue given Jamaica's unpleasant history with the IMF 
in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.  Reminding her audience that Golding 
had told her in April 2009 that an IMF agreement was "neither 
neither necessary nor appropriate," PSM implied that the PM was 
misleading the Jamaican public into believing that IMF funds might 
 
KINGSTON 00000712  002 OF 003 
 
 
be used to finance the GOJ's budget and/or fiscal deficit, when in 
fact they would only be available for foreign exchange 
stabilization or to pay off foreign creditors.  Addressing reports 
that the IMF had cancelled a visit to the island in August, PSM 
alleged that the IMF was "increasingly impatient with the 
incompetent manner [in which] the discussions are being handled by 
the JLP government."  She also accused the GOJ of covering up the 
fact that exasperated IMF officials had snubbed a JLP delegation in 
Washington.  Without citing her sources, PSM quoted the IMF as 
warning "don't bother to come unless you can answer the critical 
questions" and called on the PM to divulge critical information on 
the IMF negotiations and "tell Jamaica what are these 'critical 
questions' that have been unanswered?"   In response, GOJ 
Information Minister Daryl Vaz repudiated the allegation and 
implored the PNP "not to turn this IMF negotiation into a political 
football," while Minister of Finance Audley Shaw described PSM's 
accusation as "mischievous and totally false." 
 
¶5. (U) At the conference's private session the previous day, PNP 
General Secretary, Spokesman for National Security Affairs, and MP 
Peter Bunting presented a new Progressive Agenda and a Strategic 
Plan to reorganize and reinvigorate the Party.   Incorporating 
several elements of the 2007 Meeks Report commissioned after the 
PNP's 2007 general election defeat after 19 years in power, the 
plans call for a return to the Party's core principles, appointing 
a national campaign organizer, strengthening regional 
organizations, establishing an Anti-Corruption Commission, and 
rebuilding the PNP brand within the electorate.  (NOTE: Prior to 
the conference, Bunting spoke with Poloff on the Coke extradition 
request and Jamaica's political situation.  Reftel  B.  End Note). 
Similarly, the Party's new treasurer, Senator Mark Golding, 
attempted to distance the PNP from the seamier elements of its 
recent history by promising that it would accept only "clean" money 
from donors.  Both the plans were adopted by the Party conference. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The ongoing impasse over the Christopher "Dudus" Coke 
extradition request was addressed only obliquely (Reftel  C).  In 
his remarks, former National Security Minister Peter Phillips - who 
unsuccessfully challenged PSM for the PNP presidency at the Party 
conference in September 2008 - castigated the JLP for failing to 
implement the anti-crime agenda on which it had campaigned in 2007 
and for "abandon[ing]...the people of Jamaica to donmanship as the 
country shirks its international obligations."  (NOTE: Prior to the 
conference, Phillips spoke with Poloff on the Coke extradition 
request and internal PNP developments.  Reftel A.  End Note). 
 
Conclusion and Analysis 
 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) It was evident that, after two years of leadership 
challenges, electoral defeats, and muddled messages, the PNP had 
gone to great effort to present a united front and a coherent 
theme.  PSM was clearly energized by the raucous response to her 
attacks on Golding and the JLP, while the presence of Phillips at 
her side indicated that she has been successful in at least 
papering over the serious divisions that remain in the party over 
her leadership.  Given the myriad political and economic crises 
confronting Golding and the JLP - economic malaise, labor unrest, 
IMF negotiations, and the Coke extradition imbroglio - the PNP has 
ample material and plenty of time with which to prepare for the 
next general elections, which must take place by 2012. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The increased prominence of Peter Bunting and Mark Golding 
in key party roles - as General Secretary and Treasurer 
respectively - is noteworthy.  Bunting and Golding (no relation to 
the current PM) suggest the emergence of a younger, more pragmatic 
generation of "Young Turks" within the PNP leadership.   As a PNP 
advisor in the early 1990s, Bunting was instrumental in convincing 
PM Michael Manley, the passionate socialist of the 1970s, to pursue 
economic liberalization in the 1990s.  Later, Bunting and Golding 
became wealthy as partners in the corporate finance and brokerage 
firm of Dehring Bunting & Golding before entering (re-entering, in 
Bunting's case) politics in 2007.  Although there have been 
indications of disagreements over strategy between Bunting and the 
more populist PSM (Reftel G), the efforts of Bunting and Golding at 
 
KINGSTON 00000712  003 OF 003 
 
 
rebranding the PNP now appear to have PSM's support.  Whether 
Bunting will enjoy the same success in moderating PSM's more 
leftist tendencies remains to be seen, but a PNP featuring 
Bunting's financial acumen and PSM's rhetorical skills would be a 
formidable opponent for the JLP. 
 
Parnell 
Parnell