Bruce's autumn of discontent

Dennie Quill, Columnist

"Bruce Golding was never really given a chance." This is how my 66-year-old farmer friend, Fred, summed up the events which led to Golding's decision to quit, next month, his posts as prime minister and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader.

Fred first cited the dual-citizenship battles which heated up soon after the JLP took office. He argued that those who mounted the challenges were not as interested in seeing that the Constitution was upheld as they were in hoping that the Government would crumble.

To test the sincerity of this move, Fred asked how could one challenge dual citizens on one side of the aisle, while ignoring those on your own side? They could have spared us their righteous indignation, Fred concluded.

I have to agree with Fred that challenging dual citizens on the opponents' side, while nurturing them on your side, is nothing more than bald hypocrisy.

For a start, Golding had a very slim majority in the Parliament. There is a feeling that this influenced many key ministerial appointments in a move to strengthen the base. As it turned out, some of these persons may have been loyalists but they were not suitable for the jobs they were given. Golding's reference on Sunday night that is time for a young leader can only be seen as a deep-seated feeling which he cherished but was not able to act on because compromise was demanded.

Fred then turned to the economy. He said efforts to pull the country out of its economic morass proved more difficult in the global environment. It was greater than the JLP had ever imagined, so Mr Golding had to seek salvation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For Jamaicans, the IMF is among the most detested acronyms to have ever been formed.

I asked Fred why did a publication like the Economist describe Golding as the most successful prime minister of Jamaica in decades. Fred replied that Golding and his finance minister, Audley Shaw, had the courage to make some far-reaching and bold decisions which helped to stabilise the Jamaican economy and push down interest rates. "Jamaica owes Golding a debt of gratitude for those efforts," Fred added.

Soft landing

Then Fred cited the Dudus extradition saga. The botched efforts to negotiate a soft landing for this criminal mastermind were doomed from the start. Golding, an experienced politician, should have known that in the end, Uncle Sam always gets its man.

The truth is that any leader faced with the extradition of a key constituent who had so much socio-economic influence would have been hard-pressed to come up with an appropriate response that would not have damaged relations with Washington while satisfying his power base in West Kingston. Given Jamaica's politics where leaders have been known to have close relationships with dons or area leaders, it was bound to become an explosive situation.

One bad day in politics is no reason to abandon all hope, we may say. However, Mr Golding has had many bad days in the last four years. One just needs to take a look at the 'before' and 'after' photos. Four years ago, he had mostly brown hair, now it is mostly white.

More needed to be said

In his broadcast to the nation, he explained how deeply this incident had affected him. He did not say how he had been abused and pilloried over the extradition foul-up, but that is a fact.

What we also did not hear from the prime minister was an acknowledgement that the handling of this affair was profoundly flawed. He needed to have said that.

Many people have been calling for Golding's resignation. Now that he has done that, they are expressing shock and asking why. The Dudus-Manatt commission of enquiry did not help Golding. The flames were fanning out of control. Now Mr Golding's impending resignation may stop these flames from engulfing the entire party. Interesting days are ahead for Fred and the rest of the country.

Dennie Quill is a veteran media practitioner. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and denniequill@hotmail.com.