Tweet
EDITORIAL - Paying the price for Trafigura
published: Monday | October 9, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
The decision by the ruling People's National Party (PNP) to give back the $31 million 'gift' from Dutch <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">commodity </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">traders</SPAN> Trafigura Beheer and the resignation/firing of the party's general secretary and Information Minister, Colin Campbell, are clearly aimed at limiting the political fallout from the scandal.
Mr. Campbell, obviously, is paying the price for what is deemed ineptitude in his structuring of the deal, leaving the Government open to credible claims of corruption and kickbacks. For, while we suspect that Trafigura's statement that the cash was in furtherance of a commercial transaction was partly to appease European regulators, its effect is to imply shady dealings on the part of Jamaican government ministers and others close to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
Internally, the Trafigura scandal immediately does two things: It weakens the popular and populist Mrs. Simpson Miller and strengthens the position of the Peter Phillips wing of the party. Dr. Phillips was Mrs. Simpson Miller's closet rival for the job of party leader and prime minister during the PNP's leadership contest in February. After Mrs. Simpson Miller's victory, Dr. Phillips' supporters felt that they were being sidelined while the Portia yellow brigade made an arrogant march to ascendancy. Mr. Campbell and the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Energy</SPAN> and Commerce Minister, Phillip Paulwell, were seen to be among the ascendant group.
Now Mrs. Simpson Miller is willing to sacrifice Mr. Campbell and, according to PNP insiders, Mr. Paulwell, too, came close to feeling the axe, the duo having been deemed to have made a hash of this party <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: relative; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061009/cleisure/cleisure1.html#" target=_new><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">financing</SPAN><
published: Monday | October 9, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
The decision by the ruling People's National Party (PNP) to give back the $31 million 'gift' from Dutch <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">commodity </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">traders</SPAN> Trafigura Beheer and the resignation/firing of the party's general secretary and Information Minister, Colin Campbell, are clearly aimed at limiting the political fallout from the scandal.
Mr. Campbell, obviously, is paying the price for what is deemed ineptitude in his structuring of the deal, leaving the Government open to credible claims of corruption and kickbacks. For, while we suspect that Trafigura's statement that the cash was in furtherance of a commercial transaction was partly to appease European regulators, its effect is to imply shady dealings on the part of Jamaican government ministers and others close to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
Internally, the Trafigura scandal immediately does two things: It weakens the popular and populist Mrs. Simpson Miller and strengthens the position of the Peter Phillips wing of the party. Dr. Phillips was Mrs. Simpson Miller's closet rival for the job of party leader and prime minister during the PNP's leadership contest in February. After Mrs. Simpson Miller's victory, Dr. Phillips' supporters felt that they were being sidelined while the Portia yellow brigade made an arrogant march to ascendancy. Mr. Campbell and the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Energy</SPAN> and Commerce Minister, Phillip Paulwell, were seen to be among the ascendant group.
Now Mrs. Simpson Miller is willing to sacrifice Mr. Campbell and, according to PNP insiders, Mr. Paulwell, too, came close to feeling the axe, the duo having been deemed to have made a hash of this party <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: relative; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061009/cleisure/cleisure1.html#" target=_new><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">financing</SPAN><