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HE is riding high and basking in the more-than-favourable ratings he received at the end of the recent commission of enquiry into the controversial extradition proceedings for Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
However, veteran politician and attorney-at-law KD Knight has no intention of using that popularity to rebuild his stock for re-entry into representational politics, claiming he just cannot afford it.
KNIGHT... I came out of politics broke, broke, broke
1/1
"No!", was the straightforward answer to the question of whether he would go back into representational politics when the Sunday Observer interviewed him last week at the downtown Kingston offices he shares with long-time friends John Junor and Bert Samuels. Knight, who, according to the ongoing RJR/TVJ Boxill poll was considered the most effective lawyer during the Manatt/Dudus enquiry, shot down a suggestion that he might have been harbouring thoughts of facing the electorate again, saying that he would be foolish to do so.
Knight, an Opposition Senator, said that even if his People's National Party regained power in the next general election, expected next year, he would decline a Cabinet position if he were offered one.
"No, I wouldn't. I couldn't afford it. I spent 18 years in politics and I came out broke," said Knight, removing his spectacles to forcibly make the point.
"Thank God for the National Housing Trust, from which I had not taken any money from years of contributing. Had it not been for the National Housing Trust, I would have been dead flat. I came out of politics broke... broke... broke. I am now in the process of rebuilding my law practice.
"Every asset that I had was acquired before I entered politics. I acquired nothing whilst I was in government," Knight claimed.
What was his reward for staying in politics then, having served the people of East Central St Catherine as their representative from 1989 to 2007?
"Job satisfaction. I tried my best in the portfolios that I handled, and in the arenas that I thought I had some influence I tried to see how I could assist the process of accomplishing better for the people of Jamaica.
"My law practice carries me now full time. I was away for 18 years, so I have to build a practice. Persons now up to 30 or 35 years old wouldn't know me as a lawyer. They would only know me as a politician. I read an article in the press recently where Tony Rebel, who in a song said that he had seen me over the years as a politician and never associated me with any legal skills. There are a lot of people like that in the society," Knight said.
The tough-talking Knight said that prime minister Bruce Golding's suggestion before the Manatt/Dudus enquiry that he was trying to shore up his popularity in order to re-enter public political life was an example of falsehood.
"The prime minister said I was riding on his back to secure my return to the political arena, but no, prime minister, I wasn't doing that.
"I was trying to get from him the truth concerning this matter (the extradition). In terms of representational politics, there is no reason in the world why I should want to go back, and therefore there is no reason in the world why I will re-enter," he insisted.
Regarding the seemingly popular view that politicians usually fatten their pockets when they enter and remain in politics for a while, Knight said that this view was not one that should be used to broad brush all politicians, while admitting that some of his colleagues had given political governance a bad name.
"While there are many who are not, some of them are damn rogues," he said.
"When I was entering politics, an uncle of mine was dead set against me going in. He said to me, 'you are going into this politics and you are going to get tainted as some others have, and get involved in all kinds of things'.
"I said to him, as I am entering, so will I exit. The pleasure is that he lived to see me exit and all during those years he was pleased. He died at 87 years old in May 2007, at that time I had left the Cabinet," Knight said.
The Queen's Counsel served as member of Parliament for East Central St Catherine from 1989 to 2007, before being replaced by incumbent Natalie Neita-Headley upon his retirement.
He also had Cabinet portfolio responsibilities for national security and justice, and later foreign affairs and foreign trade.
However, veteran politician and attorney-at-law KD Knight has no intention of using that popularity to rebuild his stock for re-entry into representational politics, claiming he just cannot afford it.
KNIGHT... I came out of politics broke, broke, broke
1/1
"No!", was the straightforward answer to the question of whether he would go back into representational politics when the Sunday Observer interviewed him last week at the downtown Kingston offices he shares with long-time friends John Junor and Bert Samuels. Knight, who, according to the ongoing RJR/TVJ Boxill poll was considered the most effective lawyer during the Manatt/Dudus enquiry, shot down a suggestion that he might have been harbouring thoughts of facing the electorate again, saying that he would be foolish to do so.
Knight, an Opposition Senator, said that even if his People's National Party regained power in the next general election, expected next year, he would decline a Cabinet position if he were offered one.
"No, I wouldn't. I couldn't afford it. I spent 18 years in politics and I came out broke," said Knight, removing his spectacles to forcibly make the point.
"Thank God for the National Housing Trust, from which I had not taken any money from years of contributing. Had it not been for the National Housing Trust, I would have been dead flat. I came out of politics broke... broke... broke. I am now in the process of rebuilding my law practice.
"Every asset that I had was acquired before I entered politics. I acquired nothing whilst I was in government," Knight claimed.
What was his reward for staying in politics then, having served the people of East Central St Catherine as their representative from 1989 to 2007?
"Job satisfaction. I tried my best in the portfolios that I handled, and in the arenas that I thought I had some influence I tried to see how I could assist the process of accomplishing better for the people of Jamaica.
"My law practice carries me now full time. I was away for 18 years, so I have to build a practice. Persons now up to 30 or 35 years old wouldn't know me as a lawyer. They would only know me as a politician. I read an article in the press recently where Tony Rebel, who in a song said that he had seen me over the years as a politician and never associated me with any legal skills. There are a lot of people like that in the society," Knight said.
The tough-talking Knight said that prime minister Bruce Golding's suggestion before the Manatt/Dudus enquiry that he was trying to shore up his popularity in order to re-enter public political life was an example of falsehood.
"The prime minister said I was riding on his back to secure my return to the political arena, but no, prime minister, I wasn't doing that.
"I was trying to get from him the truth concerning this matter (the extradition). In terms of representational politics, there is no reason in the world why I should want to go back, and therefore there is no reason in the world why I will re-enter," he insisted.
Regarding the seemingly popular view that politicians usually fatten their pockets when they enter and remain in politics for a while, Knight said that this view was not one that should be used to broad brush all politicians, while admitting that some of his colleagues had given political governance a bad name.
"While there are many who are not, some of them are damn rogues," he said.
"When I was entering politics, an uncle of mine was dead set against me going in. He said to me, 'you are going into this politics and you are going to get tainted as some others have, and get involved in all kinds of things'.
"I said to him, as I am entering, so will I exit. The pleasure is that he lived to see me exit and all during those years he was pleased. He died at 87 years old in May 2007, at that time I had left the Cabinet," Knight said.
The Queen's Counsel served as member of Parliament for East Central St Catherine from 1989 to 2007, before being replaced by incumbent Natalie Neita-Headley upon his retirement.
He also had Cabinet portfolio responsibilities for national security and justice, and later foreign affairs and foreign trade.
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