Campbell bows out
Published:Thursday | August 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
THREE DAYS after vowing to send Pearnel Charles into political retirement, it appears Colin Campbell himself might be heading in that direction.
Campbell was attempting to make a comeback by way of North Central Clarendon but was stumped this week after Contractor General Greg Christie recommended that he be charged with obstructing an investigation into the Trafigura affair.
"I think this is the right thing to do. Jamaicans expect political leaders to behave honourably and this coincides with my own view. All politicians should embrace this principle," Campbell said in a statement issued by the secretariat of the People's National Party (PNP) yesterday.
Campbell's decision not to quench his thirst for a return to representational politics comes amid the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips saga for which the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been under pressure.
"I invite the prime minister (Bruce Golding) and the minister of justice (Dorothy Lightbourne) to travel this route and resign and help to usher in a new day in Jamaican politics," Campbell said in an apparent search for company to the retirement lounge.
Campbell on Sunday vowed to return to Gordon House by way of North Central Clarendon after he was introduced at a South West Clarendon constituency conference as the party's standard bearer in the seat now held by Charles, of the governing JLP.
"Bye-bye to the five JLP MPs. The other five will join Comrade Butch Arscott and all six of us will go to Gordon House," Campbell said as he promised that the PNP would win all six seats in the parish.
Excitement short-lived
But that enthusiasm was short-lived as Contractor General Greg Christie released his report into the Trafigura investigation a day later. Christie said Campbell had not assisted in his investigation and has recommended criminal charges which could land the former Cabinet minister in prison for 12 months.
In his statement yesterday, Campbell said he has not committed a breach but said "the fact is that the process continues even though in (Christie's) investigation he found no corrupt act on my part".
However he added that, in light of Christie's recommendation, he has decided not to offer himself as a candidate at this time "as I await the decision of the director of public prosecutions".