OBSERVER EDITORIAL
A time for good men and women to stand up
Monday, May 17, 2010
Those of his supporters, in and outside of Cabinet and Parliament, who insist that Mr Bruce Golding should remain as prime minister and has nothing to apologise for, are missing a most essential element. That of Mr Golding's astronomical loss of credibility at all levels.
Seeking to cloud the issue by pointing to the misdeeds of the Opposition People's National Party during 18 years of governance serves no useful purpose. The fact is that as a result of his inexcusable waffling and barefaced deception in relation to the proposed extradition of Mr Christopher Coke and the related Manatt, Phelps & Phillips issue, the prime minister no longer has the moral authority and credibility required to properly govern.
That moral authority and credibility, so high when Mr Golding pronounced himself the Chief Servant on taking over the reins two-and-a-half years ago, have disappeared with a speed and to an extent that is unprecedented in the history of modern Jamaica.
Yet, at no point in our modern history has there been a greater need for believability in governance and respect for its institutions. Lest we forget, the country -- chronically indebted and addicted to living above its means -- is in dire economic straits. The return of economic stability is now heavily dependent on a delicate borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund.
Underpaid and dissatisfied public sector workers, including overworked nurses, police and teachers, are being asked to accept a wage freeze and the payment of retroactive monies -- over three years -- for the greater good of us all.
Unemployment has skyrocketed in line with the global recession. And crime, that constant bugbear of decades, is now worse than ever before with murders said to be several percentage points higher than last year when they were well in excess of 1,600.
A prime minister and a Government deemed by dint of manifest evidence to be prone to deceit as well as wrongful and delusional behaviour will not be able to achieve the relative unity of community and key stakeholders required to address the many grave problems.
Indeed, his stance on the extradition issue will already have led to the conclusion by many reasonable men and women that the prime minister and his Government are at best ambivalent in their attitude to organised criminality. The US State Department has already suggested as much.
If Mr Golding, his Government and party stick by the position as articulated to journalists in Ocho Rios yesterday, they will have taken this country into very dangerous and uncharted waters.
The time is now for good and reasonable men and women in Mr Golding's Cabinet, among the JLP members of Parliament and in the executive of the party, to convince their prime minister that he has to go for the good of the country, Government and party. They need to act quickly. Time is fast running out.
A time for good men and women to stand up
Monday, May 17, 2010
Those of his supporters, in and outside of Cabinet and Parliament, who insist that Mr Bruce Golding should remain as prime minister and has nothing to apologise for, are missing a most essential element. That of Mr Golding's astronomical loss of credibility at all levels.
Seeking to cloud the issue by pointing to the misdeeds of the Opposition People's National Party during 18 years of governance serves no useful purpose. The fact is that as a result of his inexcusable waffling and barefaced deception in relation to the proposed extradition of Mr Christopher Coke and the related Manatt, Phelps & Phillips issue, the prime minister no longer has the moral authority and credibility required to properly govern.
That moral authority and credibility, so high when Mr Golding pronounced himself the Chief Servant on taking over the reins two-and-a-half years ago, have disappeared with a speed and to an extent that is unprecedented in the history of modern Jamaica.
Yet, at no point in our modern history has there been a greater need for believability in governance and respect for its institutions. Lest we forget, the country -- chronically indebted and addicted to living above its means -- is in dire economic straits. The return of economic stability is now heavily dependent on a delicate borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund.
Underpaid and dissatisfied public sector workers, including overworked nurses, police and teachers, are being asked to accept a wage freeze and the payment of retroactive monies -- over three years -- for the greater good of us all.
Unemployment has skyrocketed in line with the global recession. And crime, that constant bugbear of decades, is now worse than ever before with murders said to be several percentage points higher than last year when they were well in excess of 1,600.
A prime minister and a Government deemed by dint of manifest evidence to be prone to deceit as well as wrongful and delusional behaviour will not be able to achieve the relative unity of community and key stakeholders required to address the many grave problems.
Indeed, his stance on the extradition issue will already have led to the conclusion by many reasonable men and women that the prime minister and his Government are at best ambivalent in their attitude to organised criminality. The US State Department has already suggested as much.
If Mr Golding, his Government and party stick by the position as articulated to journalists in Ocho Rios yesterday, they will have taken this country into very dangerous and uncharted waters.
The time is now for good and reasonable men and women in Mr Golding's Cabinet, among the JLP members of Parliament and in the executive of the party, to convince their prime minister that he has to go for the good of the country, Government and party. They need to act quickly. Time is fast running out.
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