Civic participation shapes Jamaica's future beyond election day, commentator says

Commentator Peter Gay Ferguson has called on Jamaicans, particularly young people, to treat elections and year-round civic engagement as matters that directly shape daily life, warning that withdrawal from public affairs leaves room for others to decide on roads, schools, healthcare, housing, crime, taxes, jobs, wages, water and electricity.

Ferguson acknowledged widespread frustration with repeated political promises and the sense that many citizens feel disconnected from formal politics. He argued, however, that apathy carries its own cost: when attentive citizens step back, elected leaders face less pressure, and governance continues to affect everyone whether they participate or not.

Drawing on Jamaica's protest history, he pointed to UWI Mona students and lecturers who demonstrated in 1968 after Walter Rodney was declared persona non grata, GUILD President Damian Crawford's 2004 campus action over student policies, and Crystal Tomlinson's similar efforts in 2012. He also cited the 1999 gas riots and the 1938 labour rebellion that began at a sugar factory in Westmoreland, developments he linked to the rise of major trade unions and adult suffrage in 1944. Ferguson contrasted that tradition with today's global student-led movements in countries including Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, the Philippines and Nepal.

He said meaningful change will not come through inaction alone, and urged Jamaicans to organise across party, class and religious lines. Ferguson highlighted three current accountability tests: parliamentary scrutiny of a minister facing illicit-enrichment charges whom he said the Integrity Commission found unable to legitimately explain declared wealth; beach-access campaigns led by the JABM group; and demands for clarity on Jamaica's agreement with the United States to accept deportees whose backgrounds and treatment on arrival remain unclear.

"The power of the people is greater than the people in power," Ferguson said in closing, stressing that democracy works best when citizens stay engaged beyond election day.