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Observer EDITORIAL:
Time to ship out, Prime Minister?
Friday, May 14, 2010
How convenient it would be if we could just brush aside the unpleasant things in life and keep moving right along!
There'd be no need for any of the systems that are in place to deal with criminality and other social ills.
Whenever things went wrong we could just make a lot of noise and then, in keeping with the culture of the nine-day wonder, get back to work.
Such a modus operandi may have its place within the context of minor private squabbles on the playground, but it is simply unworkable in the bigger scheme of governance.
When it comes to the matter of drug- and gun-running, which is almost always accompanied by rape, murder and the mayhem associated with organised crime, a lot more is required by way of resolution.
We know our prime minister knows this, despite the unbelievably brazen line being carried by his spin doctors.
That is why we can't understand how he could think his confession to Parliament concerning his hand in the hiring of a pricey US law firm to represent the interests of his friend, Mr Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, could be seen as anything less than a precursor to his resignation.
He, more than anyone else, knows that what he did on behalf of Mr Coke, who is wanted by the US authorities to answer charges of gun- and drug-running, was just wrong, regardless of the capacity in which he says he did it.
Recall the basis on which he called for the resignation of Mr Colin Campbell, the former information minister of the now Opposition People's National Party (PNP) in the wake of the 2006 Trafigura scandal.
If ever there was a case of what we Jamaicans call 'cock mout kill cock' this would have to be it.
For when Mr Campbell tried to exculpate himself from the dilemma by making the distinction between his role as information minister and party animal, Mr Golding -- quite rightly -- shot him down.
By analogy with the principles of company law, he pierced the political veil, so to speak, arguing that such a distinction was ineffectual in cases where it was being employed as a mere façade to conceal the truth of the situation.
Even if we were, for argument's sake, to take the prime minister at his word, we would still have to ask why he, on behalf of the Jamaica Labour Party, got involved in a treaty matter between governments.
We would still have to trace the source of money that was paid over to the US law firm.
And we would still have to ask about the tightness of the relationship between Mr Coke and Mr Golding, because even though accuseds are presumed innocent until proven guilty, at the end of the day it still comes down to credibility.
Then there's the question -- which won't go away unanswered -- of where we go from here.
If the answer is nowhere, as seems to have been indicated by Mr Golding in yesterday's edition of our sister title, the Observer West, it would appear that he has no intention of shaping up as far as addressing the country's outrageous crime crisis is concerned.
And if that really is the case, it's definitely time for him to take his alter ego and ship out.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...nister_7610799
Time to ship out, Prime Minister?
Friday, May 14, 2010
How convenient it would be if we could just brush aside the unpleasant things in life and keep moving right along!
There'd be no need for any of the systems that are in place to deal with criminality and other social ills.
Whenever things went wrong we could just make a lot of noise and then, in keeping with the culture of the nine-day wonder, get back to work.
Such a modus operandi may have its place within the context of minor private squabbles on the playground, but it is simply unworkable in the bigger scheme of governance.
When it comes to the matter of drug- and gun-running, which is almost always accompanied by rape, murder and the mayhem associated with organised crime, a lot more is required by way of resolution.
We know our prime minister knows this, despite the unbelievably brazen line being carried by his spin doctors.
That is why we can't understand how he could think his confession to Parliament concerning his hand in the hiring of a pricey US law firm to represent the interests of his friend, Mr Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, could be seen as anything less than a precursor to his resignation.
He, more than anyone else, knows that what he did on behalf of Mr Coke, who is wanted by the US authorities to answer charges of gun- and drug-running, was just wrong, regardless of the capacity in which he says he did it.
Recall the basis on which he called for the resignation of Mr Colin Campbell, the former information minister of the now Opposition People's National Party (PNP) in the wake of the 2006 Trafigura scandal.
If ever there was a case of what we Jamaicans call 'cock mout kill cock' this would have to be it.
For when Mr Campbell tried to exculpate himself from the dilemma by making the distinction between his role as information minister and party animal, Mr Golding -- quite rightly -- shot him down.
By analogy with the principles of company law, he pierced the political veil, so to speak, arguing that such a distinction was ineffectual in cases where it was being employed as a mere façade to conceal the truth of the situation.
Even if we were, for argument's sake, to take the prime minister at his word, we would still have to ask why he, on behalf of the Jamaica Labour Party, got involved in a treaty matter between governments.
We would still have to trace the source of money that was paid over to the US law firm.
And we would still have to ask about the tightness of the relationship between Mr Coke and Mr Golding, because even though accuseds are presumed innocent until proven guilty, at the end of the day it still comes down to credibility.
Then there's the question -- which won't go away unanswered -- of where we go from here.
If the answer is nowhere, as seems to have been indicated by Mr Golding in yesterday's edition of our sister title, the Observer West, it would appear that he has no intention of shaping up as far as addressing the country's outrageous crime crisis is concerned.
And if that really is the case, it's definitely time for him to take his alter ego and ship out.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...nister_7610799
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