We would have been surprised if she had done otherwise. But, quite predictably, Portia Simpson Miller, the leader of the Opposition, is seeking to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the Government over the spate of job losses in the economy, as firms scramble to survive.

In the process, the president of the People's National Party (PNP) has chosen to be trite and disingenuous.

The problems facing the Jamaican economy, she told the National Executive Committee (NEC) of her party on Sunday, were almost entirely the making of the Golding administration, which has been in office for 19 months. The PNP held the Government for the previous 18 years.

Global impact

So, Mrs Simpson Miller sought to discount the impact of the global recession, which was triggered by a financial meltdown in the United States, where over half-million jobs were lost in the past month alone and the unemployment rate is now 7.2 per cent and rising.

Indeed, the Americans, having already gone through two major injections of public funds into the economy, are now preparing a stimulus programme worth nearly a trillion United States dollars, that was proposed by the Obama administration.

Across Europe and Asia, governments, similarly faced with collapsed companies and economic meltdown, are attempting to implement stimulus programmes, to varying degrees.

Jamaica is not immune from these crises. For example, the softening demand in America for consumer products has caused a slowdown in manufacturing in China and Japan, which, for instance, translates into lowered demand for aluminium. The upshot: a decline for alumina produced in Jamaica, hence a loss of jobs at Alpart and St Ann Bauxite and so on.

To be sure, the pre-election rhetoric of Mr Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and its promise of "jobs, jobs, jobs", now ring hollow, and underline one weakness of an over-exuberant political culture where the building of unrealistic expectations often trumps reality.

Creative approaches

That, however, does not obviate the global crisis and its real impact on Jamaica, which, unfortunately, the Government has only belatedly acknowledged with candour.

It is also Jamaica's misfortune, after 40 years of growth averaging not more than two per cent a year, not to have much cushion with which to absorb this crisis.

Jamaica, of course, can muddle through. But there is an opportunity, with new and creative approaches, to do better than that - to even emerge as an economy poised for sustained growth. It, however, requires new and creative thinking, particularly in our politics.

Here is where Mrs Simpson Miller and her party come in. If the truth be acknowledged, the PNP, for all its barbs at the Golding administration, is scared stiff of acceding to the Government in the current environment. And the JLP probably hopes it can just walk away from it. Things are that bad.

Perhaps it is time for the Opposition to surprise the country by proposing a formal understanding on a few segments of national life - perhaps the economy and education - on which they would pursue common goals with the Government.

Mr Golding could hardly reject it and the country would be so shocked that it might even work. In this crisis, petty carping does no one any good.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.