SURELY, YOU remember Farmer Joe. During the last parliamentary election exercises, with the saturation of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) television and various other types of campaign advertisement, he was the middle-aged farmer among his cultivation, with the cellular phone in hand, telling Portia: "A nuh me seh suh."

I subsequently met him in a dream late last year, and quickly shared with In Focus readers portions of that dream. We found him to be a composed, reasonable individual who was not afraid to call a spade a spade. He was also the star of the conversation in the first dream, at a get-together over there in the Cockpit Country, to welcome back to Jamaica our old friend, Harry, who had introduced us just a few minutes before we started to reason.

Well, I met Farmer Joe once again in a dream earlier this week, this time at the roundabout just beyond the gas station at Williamsfield in Manchester. We were driving in opposite directions and he was the one who saw me, gave me 'a shout', and we repaired to a roadside establishment where roasted yam and breadfruit and assorted drinks were on sale.

Burning issues

He declared himself extremely happy to see me as he had a few burning issues on his mind that he wished to share with someone whom he regarded as being direct and frank as he was.

When I told him that I intended to have a Red Stripe beer with my breadfruit and steamed fish, he quickly observed that we were lucky that we were not at the White House in Washington, DC, as it was likely that I would have had to make another choice. I asked him if he had a view as to why Professor Gates did not stick to his first preference. According to him, Harry, who was in good health and intended to take a trip home early next year, told him on the telephone that there was more to that change than meets the eye.

Farmer Joe said that he had three specific issues on his mind, all of which, he maintained, should be part of the responsibility conversation that the prime minister has said that he wishes to be pursued here in Jamaica - first, this imminent International Monetary Fund journey, as he put it! I inquired of him what aspect in particular, since the conventional wisdom was that our present economic fortunes and the times in which we live dictate that that was a road which had to be taken.

He said that I should not entertain any doubt as to his understanding of those realities, but his difficulty was whether the Government did not have a responsibility to prepare the people to tackle the journey. It is going to be an arduous journey, he asserted, regardless of what the experts claim concerning less stringent conditions being imposed by the fund; for, in the past, when Jamaicans found themselves in the relentless grasp of that kind of relationship, thousands of our citizens were, fortunately, making a livelihood in the bauxite industry, in the sugar industry and in bananas, and more.

No fallout then

Further, there had been no Olint or Cash Plus or any other widespread-financial-fallout phenomenon and, back then, favourable conditions existed in other countries for those who were of a mind and had the opportunity to 'try their luck' elsewhere. Independent Jamaica, he was sure, was about to venture deep into the economic unknown in circumstances in which, far from any programme or required sense of pause having been introduced to the citizens by the authorities, up until recently, persons at the highest level of government publicly entertained no fears for our fortunes in these troubled times.

Farmer Joe was livid, but it was impossible to resist the urge to mention to him that he had been a star in the show that helped to put the present administration in place. He immediately brushed me aside by reminding me that, in our conversation with Harry last year, he had told us that we should not read anything much into that: he had been paid a reasonable sum and, in any event, he had a deep passion for acting.

Message for 'Sista P'

As a matter of fact, he said, he had a message for Sista P: that she and her lieutenants should be proactive in proceeding to tell the people of Jamaica the unvarnished truth, no acting; that we are entering a brand-new phase of Jamaica's history - a phase in which the purposive role of a united Opposition cannot be quantified; it might even be priceless.

He was satisfied that it was imperative that the leader of the opposition share with the people her vision that "the new constitutional architecture require the full and objective participation of every shareholder in Jamaica's success", as she had trumpeted in her contribution to the Budget Debate a few months ago. But he was certainly shocked at the listless approach of the Government to the stress-filled journey just ahead.

The second irritant for Farmer Joe had to do with the prolonged dual-citizenship parliamentary issues. He had hoped that, as leaders, the occupants of Gordon House would have already found common ground as to a resolution of those matters, but he was burning up inside at the jumpiness of the prime minister in his reaction to the approach of members of the judiciary as they set about their tasks.

He maintained that Prime Minister Golding had taken a swipe at the judges when, early in the day, he declared that he would not allow a person to be installed in the Chamber as a result of a court ruling and that he would call a general election in such an eventuality. I asked him why he regarded it as a swipe. He said that the most powerful tool in the hands of prime ministers in a Westminster-style democracy is the circumstances in which they would seek a mandate from the people before the constitutionally mandated time.

Weapon

That is the weapon that they hold closest to their chests, something that Golding would have been properly seized of, what with his long experience in the parliamentary process and public life. So, according to Farmer Joe, he must have had some deep reason for making such a pregnant statement, preferring to break the hallowed rule of showing his hand. The only common sense political reason he could find was that the prime minister was sending a message to the judiciary.

I told him that I appreciated the logic of his reasoning which could not be easily sidestepped. For me, I advised him, it is far more prudent for persons, particularly those in leadership, not to make any comment relating to ongoing cases before the court: it can do irreparable damage to the proper administration of justice. As an immediate example, it gives rise to the kind of discussion we were then having and can lead to the powerful inference that he and a multitude of others had drawn from Golding's comments, obviously uttered in a fit of nervous excitement.

Farmer Joe was clear that his views were buttressed by the recent public expressions of the prime minister concerning his lordship's declaration that he would take some time to consider the arguments put forward in the latest case being considered by the courts. He said much more, but we must obey our rule of not commenting on a matter under consideration.

Tumbling down

He also paused to remind me how some associations, institutes and other groups sought to 'tumble down' on me when, as minister of justice, I took a judge to task for comments made from the bench in the Westmoreland Circuit Court - comments which had nothing to do with any case or matter before the tribunal. I commended him on his fine sense of recall, which, he said, assisted him greatly in his farming and his acting. His parting shot was that the silence of those groups these days goes to show that what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

We were now about to part company after the second beer. As we shook hands, I asked him what was the third matter that was exercising his mind. Almost in a whisper, and with a furrowed brow, he said he wondered at the sensibilities surrounding the invitation extended by the JLP administration to President Chávez of Venezuela to share in our Independence celebrations. After all, that party had not been kind to him over there in Montego Bay when the PetroCaribe agreement was to be signed.

As things had turned out, the president soon found himself under doctor's orders and, regrettably, found it impossible to attend. So, Farmer Joe suggested, why not extend an invitation to President Alvaro Caballeros of Guatemala? That was the country favoured by the JLP, in opposition, to fill the vacancy on the powerful United Nations body. We have not heard much about Guatemala from this government since the attempt at currying favour with some powerful people in our powerful neighbour to the north.

We wished each other travelling mercies, and like the occasion of my first encounter with Farmer Joe, I awakened to find that sometimes 'dreams walk straight' and immediately prayed for more inspiring and caring management and responsible leadership during our 48th year as an independent nation. Lady Bustamante's peaceful rest would be even more assured.

A.J. Nicholson is the opposition spokesman on justice.