EDITORIAL: Golding JLP's best choice

When Bruce Golding sought, and won, the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), with his ultimate intent becoming prime minister, for which he had been long in preparation, he would have known that the job is not easy.

Leadership, and especially of a country like Jamaica, never is - a fact Mr Golding exacerbated by manufacturing difficulties of his own.

We had hoped, though, that having toughed out his involvement in the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke extradition affair and the Manatt-lobbying scandal, that Golding was now over the worst and ready to buckle down to the leadership of the country. But, as has been reported, he is now contemplating resigning as leader of the JLP and, therefore, as prime minister.

Apparently, Mr Golding does not believe that the endorsement he received from JLP colleagues for his handling of the Coke-Manatt issue was firm or has been sustained. He believes that he faces not only problems abroad, but that his leadership is being internally undermined, and that his departure represents the JLP's best prospects for an election victory in two years' time.

Mr Golding is under the misapprehension that the Coke-Manatt affair will follow him out the door. He and those leaning on him to go are wrong on this count.

The JLP's safest route to remaining in government is to take the decisions, some of them tough, to consolidate recent macro-economic gains, reform the public sector, and to create an environment that is friendly towards business and the creation of jobs.

the best man

Golding should be the best man, in the circumstances, to lead the process - if he has the will. Indeed, this is the best opportunity to rehabilitate his premiership and secure an honourable place in history. Moreover, staying and fighting provides a chance for rescuing the now-dormant political reform agenda he championed in the 1990s and ostensibly took to the JLP when he rejoined the party in 2002.

The bottom line is it is time for Golding to make up his mind. Jamaica cannot, at this period, entertain waffling and indecision. The country requires strong, decisive, and clear leadership, which has been absent in recent times.

If Golding holds that he is not the man for the job, the JLP needs to settle quickly who among them should be his successor, and then stand firmly behind that person - at least until the current term expires - so as to avoid continued fractious leadership and political instability.

In the current circumstances, Audley Shaw, the finance minister, would appear to us to be the front-runner ahead of the youthful education minister, Andrew Holness, who enjoys admiration for his sense of balance and political maturity.

Dr Christopher Tufton, the agriculture minister, should also be among the handful, with Ed Bartlett, who has had a decent run as minister of tourism, being an outsider with whom this newspaper would not find offence.

We would also suggest to the JLP that it also give consideration to Delroy Chuck, who has spent three fruitless years decorating the Speaker's chair in Parliament. Whether it is Golding or someone else, Chuck should be rescued from Gordon House and put to work at the justice ministry.

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