Edward

Mr. Seaga forced not only own party reasons therefore I �hesi­ but the his T IS CUSTOMARY at the end For these PNP as well to pay more attentio;1 tatingly select Mr. Seaga as 1961's Political to fundame tals of I ' :i;i political economies, the of every Government year for this column to Man of the Year. s expert planners to exam the relevant int> n_ame a factors and the legislators t� Political Man or Woman of ponJamaica which had Seaga cl�im to do with nothing in the opinion of this column, has the traditional bridge hereo, the done more to influence the trends llTHAT are Mr. Seaga's claims to this and developments of Jamaican po­ distinction? In the first place, Mr. Seaga school there, the road in that has played a more significant role in re­ or the money provided for the Jamaica litics - for good or bad - over the vitalising the than Agricultural Society and its 'use' or 'misuse! that Party. It by officers of the Society. past twelve months. any other single member of is no secret that the new forward-looking and almost left-wing policies of the JLP Mr. Seaga relatively new on the po­ from the is ...._.1}-l" customary also that neither of (indeed they are indistinguishable litical scene and many people do not know PNP's) has been due to influence on the who he is. At present he is the youngest Jamaica's his two political giants is named, JLP executive and as Chairman of the member of the Legislative CouncH, intleed party's Policy Planning Committee. He has for both Mr. Manley and Sir Alexander the youngest member of the island's legis­ given a positive bent to the policy lature. JLP Be is 31. A Bachelor of Artr. of Bustamante stand head and ·shoulders where before it was vague and non-com- in Social Science, Mr. mittal. l Seaga was born in . He has been above their colleagues politics so much � in connected with the University College, as so that they would run away with the That is the first basic contribution Mr. an undergrad studying medicine witl• ·fu,· ai of �er doing_psychiatry, as research nomination every year. Seaga made to the political shape of things m a in Jamaica in 1961. �orker sociology and anthropology aml In Jamaican mnrs Ifill folklore, and as a This year was no exception to this rule. . . lecturer the Extra-mural DeDartment. The second was th e wor k h e d d d urmg in Sir was undoubtedly I the most campaign. With Mr. dominant political factor this year the Referendum Perhaps this mixture of Boston antl by reason of his performance in the Refer­ Clement Tavares, of South Western St. - Harvard and his in-the-field endum. But it is natural that this should An- of research drew, he was one of Sir Alexander Busta- be so. He is in the position to dominate among pocomanians, rastafarian and simple such a development and he did dominate it mante's principal lieutenants, and the JLP's village folk, has shaped Mr. Seaga's par­ and create the position where this island · ' organization and campaign during that period is now poised to jump off into form ticular role in politics. My own view largely tumed upon effo e ey i:endence. his rts. H k - t hat this mixture - the puritanism of E noted the whole of tha� campaign th as e ton ii.nd Harvard, and the naked primit principal economio s pokesman for the JLP But apart from the two facts of Jamaica village life - has tend, and probably campaigned throughout the there are other politicians who h, to give Mr. Seaga an almost sterm Biblicai island more thoroughly than any other mem­ fluenced the political scene anMr. mien, harsh and unbending about his own ber of the JLP to gain the desired result. i spring readily to mind. They prejudices and bel efs, which does not stop ai JOtt consider that the other man may well cen to Millard Johnson, who has formeis 1 But it is not for these things only be right. But this is a trait that can take People's Political Party, and the that Seaga made his impact on the a 196 Mr. polit\cfan very far. At least one other poli- political scene this year. Indee