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People's National Party (PNP) to celebrate 70 years
published: Wednesday | April 30, 2008
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Then Minister of Education Howard Cooke looks as authoritative in black and white as he does in colour in this February 1975 Gleaner photo. Cooke, one of the founders of the People's National Party, later became Jamaica's fourth governor general.
REFLECTION AND renewal will be high on the agenda for the People's National Party (PNP) when it observes its 70th anniversary with a series of events starting next week.
This year's Founders' Day, on September 18, marks the first time in 18 years that the PNP will be out of government. Julian Robinson, the party's deputy general-secretary, told The Gleaner that the 70th anniversary will transcend symbolic functions.
"The party has to re-examine itself. We are talking about policy positions and how it operates. It's clearly a time for retrospective," Robinson said.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) wrested power from the PNP last September, winning the general election by 32 to 28 seats. The JLP also won local government elections three months later by a more comfortable margin.
Details of the milestone will be announced during a press conference on Tuesday at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters. A church service at the St Andrew Parish Church in Half-Way Tree on May 4 officially kicks off the list of events.
A re-enactment of the PNP's launch 70 years ago is sche-duled for September 18 at the Little Theatre in St Andrew. A luncheon honouring former president and prime minister, P.J. Patterson, and current leader and former prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, takes place on July 3.
Sir Howard Cooke, one of the PNP's founding fathers, will address Tuesday's media briefing. Cooke was 21 years old when he attended the historic launch at the Ward Theatre in 1938. He went on to become a member of Parliament, government minister and governor general.
Earlier this month, the former governor general said the PNP desperately needed a renaissance to attract youths to the movement.
Robinson said the contributions of O.T. Fairclough - widely regarded as the PNP's founder - and firebrand author Richard Hart will be recognised throughout the year. Hart was one of the infamous Four Hs (the others being Ken and Frank Hill, and Arthur Henry) dismissed by founding president Norman Manley in 1952 for their communist views.
Although its early membership attracted the country's elite, the PNP has always held strong socialist views. When it first came to power in independent Jamaica under Michael Manley in 1972, the country underwent eight years of extensive social transformation which strengthened its ties with the working class, but alienated the party's upper-crust foundation.
Robinson admits there are 'older Comrades' who became disenchanted with the party during its almost two decades in government.
"Some people think we have drifted from our core values," he said.
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Left: Co-founder of the PNP, Richard Hart. Right: O.T. Fairclough
published: Wednesday | April 30, 2008
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Then Minister of Education Howard Cooke looks as authoritative in black and white as he does in colour in this February 1975 Gleaner photo. Cooke, one of the founders of the People's National Party, later became Jamaica's fourth governor general.
REFLECTION AND renewal will be high on the agenda for the People's National Party (PNP) when it observes its 70th anniversary with a series of events starting next week.
This year's Founders' Day, on September 18, marks the first time in 18 years that the PNP will be out of government. Julian Robinson, the party's deputy general-secretary, told The Gleaner that the 70th anniversary will transcend symbolic functions.
"The party has to re-examine itself. We are talking about policy positions and how it operates. It's clearly a time for retrospective," Robinson said.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) wrested power from the PNP last September, winning the general election by 32 to 28 seats. The JLP also won local government elections three months later by a more comfortable margin.
Details of the milestone will be announced during a press conference on Tuesday at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters. A church service at the St Andrew Parish Church in Half-Way Tree on May 4 officially kicks off the list of events.
A re-enactment of the PNP's launch 70 years ago is sche-duled for September 18 at the Little Theatre in St Andrew. A luncheon honouring former president and prime minister, P.J. Patterson, and current leader and former prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, takes place on July 3.
Sir Howard Cooke, one of the PNP's founding fathers, will address Tuesday's media briefing. Cooke was 21 years old when he attended the historic launch at the Ward Theatre in 1938. He went on to become a member of Parliament, government minister and governor general.
Earlier this month, the former governor general said the PNP desperately needed a renaissance to attract youths to the movement.
Robinson said the contributions of O.T. Fairclough - widely regarded as the PNP's founder - and firebrand author Richard Hart will be recognised throughout the year. Hart was one of the infamous Four Hs (the others being Ken and Frank Hill, and Arthur Henry) dismissed by founding president Norman Manley in 1952 for their communist views.
Although its early membership attracted the country's elite, the PNP has always held strong socialist views. When it first came to power in independent Jamaica under Michael Manley in 1972, the country underwent eight years of extensive social transformation which strengthened its ties with the working class, but alienated the party's upper-crust foundation.
Robinson admits there are 'older Comrades' who became disenchanted with the party during its almost two decades in government.
"Some people think we have drifted from our core values," he said.
[email protected]
Left: Co-founder of the PNP, Richard Hart. Right: O.T. Fairclough