Rowe and Vaz
Sometime before the last general election in September 2007, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for West Portland, Daryl Vaz, responding to the news that Abe Dabdoub was confirmed as his PNP opponent remarked that " ... the people of West Portland will have to decide which Labourite they want to vote for ..."
An amusing comment at the time and one which was the typical kind of cut-to-the-chase Daryl practicality that has so characterised his personality. Well, the people did decide and Vaz turned out to be a comfortable winner when they gave him an absolute majority of 944 votes and a victory margin of 7.3 per cent over Dabdoub. But they might not have been very amused, given the fact that they had been down that road before for the JLP - not once, not twice, but a third time in '07, and now an incredible fourth time on March 23, having to choose between two candidates representing present and past membership of the same party - JLP.
Indeed, this political record that has been established in West Portland is unique but not rare, as other areas had the experience, but not the recurrence.
a first-time scenario
What will be rare for West Portland is the holding of a by-election as determined by the chief justice and the Court of Appeal. In nearly 65 years of adult suffrage, this will be a first-time scenario for the constituency.
But like most aspects of our political history, there is abundant precedence of what happened with Vaz and Dabdoub in West Portland in '07.
For instance, in 1949 the people in South St Elizabeth found themselves having to choose between JLP-newcomer Donald Sangster and former JLP-turned-Independent incumbent, B.B. Coke. Similarly in the 1959 battle in North West Clarendon when the voters had to make a choice between JLP incumbent Edwin Allen and former JLP member of the House of Representatives, O.A. Malcolm.
Then there were the cases of 'Bully' Josephs and Rose Leon in West Rural St Andrew in 1962; Donald Sangster vs George Peryer, North Central Clarendon's first contest in 1967; PNP's Elon Wilson vs former PNP federal member, Franklin Ricketts, in North West St Ann, 1967; John Junor tackling former PNP frontliner-turned-JLP opponent, Allan Isaacs, in the 1980 South East St Andrew contest and in more recent times, the 1993 tussle between Karl Samuda and Tom Tavares-Finson in North Central St Andrew, then the 1997 encounter between Bruce Golding and Olivia Grange in Central St Catherine - to name a few!
the turncoat
But West Portland has now had the distinction of thrice staging political contests featuring past against present Labourites - and all with the same outcome - it was always the turncoat who got trounced! The first two episodes occurred in 1955 and 1972 when JLP incumbent, the late Leopold Augustus Lynch, found himself defending his seat against former party colleagues and twice he prevailed. Lynch, who first won the seat in 1944 campaigning on a bicycle, went on to score a total of seven successive victories in West Portland, retiring undefeated in 1976 after 32 years, a longevity record still only surpassed by Edward Seaga, and a career culminating in becoming the first local government minister of independent Jamaica.
But back to the Vaz and Dabdoub match-up in 2007. Interestingly, both men had similar political beginnings in the JLP as elected KSAC councillors, 1981-84. Vaz for the Waterloo division in his father's North Central St Andrew seat and Dabdoub for the Vineyard Town division in South-Eastern St Andrew, first under Allan Isaacs, then Winston Spaulding. But the similarities ended there.
One of the JLP's legal eagles and political aspirant from as far back as the mid '70s, Abe Dabdoub served as JLP senator and was a contender for deputy leadership, but his first opportunity for parliamentary representation never beckoned until 1997 when he replaced Tony Johnson in North East St Catherine and went down to Phyllis Mitchell by just 30 votes.
The long court battle which ensued, ended with a reversal of the result in June 2001 when the seat was taken from Mitchell and awarded to Dabdoub - which he retained by some 680 votes in the elections of the following year when Bruce Golding returned to the JLP from his sojourn in the National Democratic Movement.
new development
This new development in the party became a reality which Dabdoub both refused and seemed incapable of accepting and which eventually led to accusations of constituency neglect, the loss of the Mount Industry division by-election and the revolt and constant demonstrations of irate constituents who demanded his removal. All of this did not faze Dabdoub too much since he was traditionally regarded as a JLP maverick, but the new PNP leadership of Portia Simpson Miller also beckoned, plus the temptation of the West Portland seat with Errol Ennis finally bowing out.
Clearly, Abe had not carefully researched the fate of the previous JLP turncoats in West Portland, which has not just folks in the coastal towns of Buff Bay, Hope Bay, St Margaret's Bay, Orange Bay and Windsor Castle, but also the farmers in the picturesque hinterland with colourful place names like Chepstowe, Tranquility, Ythanside, Skibo, Bangor Ridge, Fruitful Vale, Cuffie Head, Claverty Cottage, Spring Hill and Paradise.
Long before Dabdoub got to West Portland, Daryl Vaz had penetrated these areas, interacting with the people, showing care, concern and dedication to an area largely neglected over the years. After the KSAC experience, Vaz had taken a long hiatus from politics, then together with his dad, Douglas, re-surfaced in the mid '90s as participants in the NDM experiment.
real talent
But his real talent as a political organiser and super fund-raiser came to the fore when he emerged as one of the dynamic young turks in the JLP who masterminded the 2001 JLP by-election victory in North East St Ann, as well as victories in key parishes like Portland in the 2003 parochial elections. By the time Vaz was officially named the JLP candidate for West Portland in 2007, his reputation as a hard worker was cemented and his attention and service to the people and the area's infrastructure even before he was elected, perhaps far exceeded the achievements of some of the previous representatives.
In the end, the '07 contest became far more popular for its sensationalism than for the substance of Dabdoub's challenge and the outcome which was always expected, was only marginally less than was anticipated.
So, here we are now with another contest in West Portland after only 17 months and unexpectedly without Dabdoub, but how will this differ much from the previous encounter? In his failed quest to be awarded a second seat through the courts, Dabdoub also failed to qualify as a winnable candidate for the second bout and had to be yanked out of contention by the party when their polls revealed that he would be 'massacred' by Vaz in the by-election. Which is hardly surprising, considering that Abe's political image had hardly improved beyond being just a spoiler who rose from the ashes of defeat to get in his potent 'last lick' with the citizenship issue, and not really perceived as showing any serious concern for the people's welfare.
understandable
The disappointment expressed by Vaz in not facing Dabdoub again is understandable, and is one that has resonated with many Jamaicans who were looking forward to his next match-up with Dabdoub. But it was really commendable and very good public relations to see the PNP and its new candidate coming out with such spunk and showing such a positive front when, with some justification, he is simply viewed by Vaz as a 'redundant labourite'.
The facade will be crucial for Kenneth Rowe, whose selection is already an anticlimax, and it might prevent what could actually be a one-horse race with Vaz, not being able to 'ketch Quaco', is now well poised to 'ketch 'im shut'. In such a contest on March 23, it will be difficult to envisage Rowe's chances any better than Dabdoub's were in September 2007.
The stark reality facing the Rowe/PNP camp is the political mettle Vaz has shown in his short stint as member of parliament and junior minister. His sustained efficiency and panache for service, not just to West Portland, but actually to the whole parish.
Historically, most of the parliamentary by-elections have resulted in the seats returning to the incumbent party. Of the 36 conducted since adult suffrage, only 10 (or 28 per cent) have been won by the JLP, with one taken from the PNP. Their 25 victories (69 per cent) have resulted in only two captured from the JLP and the last occasion was 53 years ago! With this by-election, it is highly unlikely that this is a record on which the PNP can place any real hope of improvement. And in its aftermath, the best they can hope for is that, unlike the other turncoats in the past, Kenneth will stick steadfastly to the role of caretaker and do not row off somewhere else or into the realm of political obscurity.
Troy Caine is a political historian.