No, Bruce Golding, not so

THE EDITOR, Madam:

It is not my wish to get into any extended spat or misunderstanding with esteemed former Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

But after the Christmas wining and dining, his memory might have been jaded.

In his letter to The Gleaner published on December 28, 2021, Mr Golding claimed, in response to an article that was carried by The Sunday Gleaner on December 26, 2021, as it relates to my dismissal as minister of national security in May 2008, that we had met at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, at which point he advised me that he would be reassigning me to the Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications.

That’s as far away from the truth that he could get. Even if there was a meeting that involved us on that date, no mention was made of a reassignment, or dismissal from the Cabinet. It was, simply, not done.

It was also during that period that I would meet with the prime minister at Vale Royal, regularly, to update him on my health situation.

I want to remind him that it was on Monday, May 12, 2008, in his office, approximately 10:15 a.m., prior to the commencement of regular Cabinet, that he said “Good morning, Mr Smith. I am reorganising the Cabinet, and I will need your resignation immediately.”

Now, if a prime minister is reorganising his Cabinet, and not firing a minister, why would he ask for my resignation?

I submitted the resignation as he had requested, within an hour, and more than 24 hours after it was front page in a national newspaper. Subsequent to that, weeks after, I was called and appointed to a hurriedly constructed Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications.

So, for emphasis, while the word ‘reorganising’ was mentioned in our meeting lasting mere seconds, of May 12, the point is, we never had a discussion about a ‘reassignment’ until weeks later.

Those are the facts.

I have taken great care in putting out information in my memoir, Turning Points, which, incidentally, has greeted me with a high level of positive reactions that I hitherto had never expected.

DERRICK SMITH

Former Cabinet Minister, former MP