Lawsuit on hold
Published:Tuesday | October 5, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
Efforts are being made to avert a vicious court battle that looms between Prime Minister Bruce Golding, the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, and controversial member of the party's powerful Central Executive, Harold Brady.
A Gleaner probe has unearthed information that attendees at an emergency meeting have succeeded in hammering out a tenuous deal that would keep the court battle at bay for the time being.
Brady, an attorney, filed a lawsuit late last week against Golding, claiming damages for libel, exemplary or aggravated damages, among other things.
The high-level clandestine meeting, aimed at thwarting the court battle, was convened on Sunday after the media screamed that Golding and Brady were headed to court over comments the prime minister had made.
Golding, who had dispatched a defiant rebuttal to Brady's lawsuit earlier in the day, was absent from the meeting.
Six gruelling hours of talk and counter-talk involving Brady and his attorneys on one side and respected JLP stalwart and attorney-at-law Ossie Harding, JLP General Secretary Karl Samuda and Party Chairman Dr Ken Baugh culminated in an arrangement.
In the end, the emotion that greeted the filing of the lawsuit dissipated and the attorneys for both parties were instructed to chisel out a resolution.
Golding is to be represented in the talks by Ransford Graham of Livingston, Alexander & Levy while Georgia Gibson Henlin, of Henlin Gibson, is speaking for Brady.
The Gleaner probe revealed that the two attorneys made initial contact yesterday and are planning to meet later this week.
The Gleaner understands that the lawsuit has not been withdrawn, but the court papers have been sealed, pending the outcome of the talks.
Brady could not be contacted for a comment yesterday and Samuda declined to issue a statement on the matter.
"I have no comment right now. I just cannot speak at this time," asserted Samuda when pressed for information.
Samuda had found himself in the middle of the row between Golding and Brady after the prime minister declared to the media that the attorney who helped him and his team in the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips talks had disobeyed his instructions.
The pressure brought by the Mannat mess over whether it was the JLP or the Government that had engaged the services of the US-based law firm, and Golding's subsequent admission that he had known all along but had failed to convey the information to the nation and Parliament had opened a rift that is widening with each passing day.
The nation was angered by the excuse proffered by Golding in Parliament about the political party's involvement in the matter.
As the nation came down hard on Golding, he blamed Brady for failing to carry out the instructions of the party and vowed that the attorney would be punished.
Asked by The Gleaner/Power 106 at a press conference last month whether any action had been taken against Brady, Golding answered in the affirmative.
Golding claimed that Brady had been removed from all public boards and was no longer a member of the JLP.
However, Brady countered that he still was a member of the party's second most powerful arm, its Central Executive, and was never asked to resign from any board.
Brady's assertion sparked a fiery meeting of the Central Executive and deepened the divide between Golding and the attorney, with many members agreeing that Brady was still a member of the JLP.
Samuda found himself tossed about in the melee for failing to properly defend the prime minister in the public domain.
Last week, Golding's henchman Daryl Vaz announced that he planned to challenge Samuda for the post of general secretary at the Central Executive meeting following the party's annual conference, scheduled for November.
Vaz's decision is being viewed in party circles as a move to oust the beleaguered JLP general secretary while others claim that a mood of renewal has infected the party.