Is The Prime Minister Copa-Setic?

So, alongside rising food, prices, the spiraling murder rate, creeping instability and social insecurity, Jamaicans woke up last week, with one more thing, to worry about – That thing, the Mental stability, of the Prime Minister. And why is this, some might ask: because a last week, whilst addressing a gathering of Foreign Dignitaries; local press, and Civil servants, the Prime Minister, spoke to the ‘fact’ that his Government was in the process of fast-tracking the Country’s monetary system, from the physical cash system it is accustomed to, to a new age and the dispensation of the Digital Currency.  Now the backlash was fast and furious, with a number of artistes taking to the studious to ‘Voice A Chune’ condemning the Prime Minister for taking the country on a path, that many saw as disenfranchising the ‘small-man’; as many questioned how would, or could, the street-side Food-vendor; the Higgler; the rural Farmer; Shopkeeper; Transport operators such as Taxi- and Robot operators and mini-bus drivers; Tailors, Dressmakers; Bakeries, Day-Care operators; Landlords (especially Slum-Lords) Fisherfolks; Coal-Burners; etc., etc., operate in this new Digital Economy, Where Cash was no longer King; but Digital Currency would usurp the role of King Cash, and in so doing, put the small-man, out of business? And, it wasn’t just the artistes who were voicing their protest, to the Prime Minister’s policy prescription either, because as soon as the Prime Minister’s edict was relayed and repeated in the inner-city communities, and rural farming communities,, towns, and scamming centres, the universal mood was one of resistance. As the Small man, saw this as another move by Holness and his administration, to “pressure the small man”. As evidenced by their persecution of street vendors whose goods and wares were often confiscated and or destroyed, by uncaring agents of the Government; the locking down of attractions that benefits the smallman whilst the Big man and his relatives are accomodated in every way possible. The problem here for the Government is that in the Age of The Citizen Journalist, where every Cellphone is its own media network, the government’s actions and edicts, are subjected to more scrutiny, and with each new action, the Small man has come to realize had no plan to empower them, but saw them and treat them as little more that pawns to be utilised in Elections, and then discarded until the next election cycle.  It has been posited by some observers, that its this sporadic employment, that comes around every 4 0r 5 years, that has been driving up the murder rate, and spawning more criminal activities across the Country, as ‘Enforcers’ transported from JLP strongholds in Kingston, St. Catherine and Clarendon, to secure seats in other Constituencies, resorted to scamming and robberies, during election off season, and hence, the spike in criminal activities and Murders, are only confined to some JLP seats.
Prime Minster Andrew Holness
And if none of the previous actions taken by the Government, underlined the absence of an inclusive development agenda, that would facilitate the Small-man, realising his dream of owning his own big house pon de hill, the announcement by Prime Minister Holness of his intention to fast-track the move towards a Digital society, and currency, brought home, and vividly, to the small-man, that he has no place in Prime Minister Holness’s new Digital Jamaica, and it stung like the bite of a double-headed Scorpion, and bitterly, coming as it did on the heels of the announced multi-million dollar hike in the salaries of Parliamentarians, approved by the Government, who had just told Public Sector workers, that the same Government could not afford to pay them a living wage, in the face of inflationary spike in the cost of just about everything one needs to survive. With discontent set to become the order of the day, in natural opposition to the Prime Ministerial edict, one expected the Prime Minister, to walk back his edict, and present ‘soft-soap’ plan to the Country, to incrimentally work towards the digitalization of the Jamaican economy and banking sector; But the prime Minister, took it a step down, when to rebuff his own pronouncement, that was caught on tape and film, the Prime Minister took the Dishonourable way out, by seeking to point his dirtied fingers at the Opposition, and accuse them of giving in to mischief mongering… Well, I Never…Was the Prime Minister seeking to create Mischief when he made his annoucement of seeking to hasten the move towards digitazation or was he not aware of what the implications of his announcements, would have, on the largely informal financial sector; and its potential impact on those it serves best? Or was the Prime Minister, seeking to shift the narrative from exhorbitant Pay increases to create his own alternative facts? What ever the reason for his volte face, in stepped the Minister Of Finance, Dr. Nigel Clarke, to place what little was left of his credibility, on the line in defence of the Prime Minister, in a fatuous, almost laughable Tweet, for its hollow pretentiousness, accusing the Opposition Leader, of ‘Manufacturing’ the story, to gain relevance… Such putrid emptiness the country had grown to expect of its Information Minister; and or the Minister Without Portfolio, Everald Warmington, ‘who is the Minister of Works’, in the Office of the Prime Minister. But no, this time, as if oblivious to the Prime Ministers own words, Uttered By The Prime Minister himself, and Not by a Spokesperson, or his Information Minister, Nigel Clarke shamelessly hastened to Twitter, in a rather Trumpish rant, to condemn the Leader of the Opposition, for seeking to hold the Prime Minister accountable, to the people, when it was the People who were rebelling at the call for early digitalization by the Prime Minister.
Minister Of Finance, Dr. Nigel Clarke
And this is what brought the people to this quandray, where some now question the mental status and or stability, of the Prime Minister, who seems quite at ease in pronouncing a policy position one day, and a few days later, ridiculed his very own proposal, labeling it, ridiculous, would have been laughable, were it not for the fact that his repudiation of his own Stated Position, in such a strong manner, has caused independent onlookers to question the Prime Ministers’ mental stability; and Nigel Clarke’s rush to go to his defense, only eroded his own standing as a man of integrity, to that of a mere partisan political hack. A position recognized by the many and resulted in many jamaicans, nationally and internationally, taking to social media, to question if Prime Miinister Holness, is really Copa-Setic, and if he is, can he, or his Finance Minister, be trusted with the Truth, And if not, then where do we, (as a Country) go from here?
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