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Visa revocation deepens Bruce's troubles
Claude Robinson
Sunday, May 29, 2011
THE good news that the economy is moving from recession to recovery was just beginning to sink in when Prime Minister Bruce Golding was rocked by the political equivalent of a category seven earthquake. And it could be followed by crashing tsunami waves, if media reports turn out to be accurate.
Following a Sunday Observer scoop last week, James Robertson confirmed that he was the Cabinet minister whose non-immigrant visa had been revoked by the United States; he promptly resigned as minister of energy and mining.
SIMPSON MILLER… needs to show that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with voters
GOLDING… cannot be sure that there will be no further visa cancellations or other actions by the United States
ROBERTSON… would have been told the reasons for the cancellation of his US visa
SIMPSON MILLER… needs to show that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with voters
Under normal circumstances, the resignation would only require the prime minister to find a replacement and move on.
But these times are anything but normal for Mr Golding: He cannot be sure that there will be no further visa cancellations or other actions by the United States, given the uneasy relationship between Kingston and Washington.
Three ministers are reportedly under Grand Jury investigation in the US; the Manatt/Coke Commission of Enquiry is to report shortly and that can hardly bring any joy; the razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives does not offer much choice for Cabinet picks; and the prime minister's own loss of credibility reduces the command and control that a leader can normally exert.
On top of all that, the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is beginning to put its own house in order and gear up for an election which it says it expects at any time, perhaps well ahead of the September 2012 due date.
As reported by this newspaper Thursday, the prime minister, "fretting that the fate of James Robertson could befall other members of his administration," has assigned his deputy, Dr Ken Baugh, to ascertain why the United States revoked the former mining and energy minister's visa.
Of course, the worry for Mr Golding and his Cabinet cannot be just to find out more details about the Robertson case. They should already have some answers.
In a March 10, 2010 column, Ask The US Embassy, in the Observer dealing with US immigration policy and practice, the American Embassy explained the regulations for handling visa revocation.
They explained that once a consular officer "decides to revoke a visa the officer must, if practicable, notify the visa holder of the intention to revoke the visa; allow the visa holder the opportunity to show why the visa should not be revoked; and request the visa holder to present the passport in which the visa was issued for physical cancellation". These conditions are normally met in a face-to-face interview at the embassy.
Unless procedure was ignored -- and we have no basis for suggesting it was -- Mr Robertson would have been told the reasons for the cancellation. We also know that the prime minister was briefed on Friday, two days before the story appeared. So he too would know more than what has been reported.
Given the political weight of a visa cancellation of a Cabinet minister of a friendly government, we have to assume that the US action was taken after careful consideration of the facts and the possible consequences. This was not the action of a lowly consular officer off on a frolic of his/her own.
Hence, when the Golding administration says it is seeking further and better particulars in the Robertson case, we can reasonably interpret that as a hope that US Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater will tell Foreign Affairs Minister Baugh if there will be aftershocks in the wake of the Robertson tremor. It can hardly be about reversing the decision and returning to business as usual.
The lead story in last Thursday's Observer, 'Visa worries', pointed to possible aftershocks. "Just over a year ago, reports out of New York said three unnamed senior government ministers were under the microscope of the Grand Jury of the Southern District Court of New York which indicted Christopher 'Dudus' Coke last August on alleged gun-running and drug-trafficking charges.
"Well-informed Observer sources said the Americans were contending that the Jamaican Government officials had conspired to prevent information from reaching the Grand Jury in the Coke case, at the time the latest in the fallout from the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips law firm controversy.
"Investigators probing breaches of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) involving the Government of Jamaica and the US law firm were piecing together evidence they said would expose the alleged link between the Government officials, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, and Coke, the former Tivoli Gardens strongman."
The report raises many serious questions: Who are the three ministers? Will there be more visa cancellations? Will there be indictments and requests for extradition?
The revocation, in the context of criminal investigations underway in Jamaica and the US, raises more troubling questions: Is the United States pushing around a small, Third World nation with limited capacity to defend itself? Or, are the Americans forcing us to pull back from a very dangerous place where organised criminal enterprises are exercising unprecedented control over vital institutions of the Jamaican state?
If it is American bullying, then our Government should say so. If it is not, then, as Jamaican citizens, we have to ask why our country must wait for the US to push us to do what decent governments are ordinarily expected to do.
As he ponders his limited options for the Cabinet reshuffle that he has again promised, the prime minister would be well-advised not to appoint or retain anyone that could be an embarrassment soon, resulting from any of the ongoing probes. Mr Golding alone knows the cards he has in his hands at the present time.
PNP reshuffle could start renewal
Meanwhile, PNP President Portia Simpson Miller revealed her long-promised shadow cabinet as a step in the start of what could be a renewal process in a party that needs to show it has the people and the ideas to tackle the 21st-century problems facing the country.
On the face of it, the most significant political move was shifting Dr Omar Davies, the former finance minister, from a portfolio he has long occupied, replacing him with Dr Peter Phillips, a former minister of national security and two-time unsuccessful challenger for Mrs Simpson Miller's top job.
Recently, Dr Davies has been singled out and targeted by the Government for the presumed mishandling of the economy during his long stint in government, and personally blamed for the financial-sector crisis of the mid-1990s. Hence, the move provides an opportunity for the PNP to reshape the debate about economic and financial policy and strategy; and it takes Davies out of the cross-hairs of Finance Minister Audley Shaw.
The move should also make the PNP more attractive to the private sector in policy terms as well as in generating funding for the election campaign. With Phillips as director of the PNP election campaign, this connection may be invaluable.
Davies, at transport and works, will be more energetic and forceful than the previous spokesman, PNP chairman Bobby Pickersgill, in challenging Works Minister Mike Henry on spending in the portfolio, especially the multi-billion Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP). Given the political benefits the Government can reap from targeted spending under the programme, Davies can be expected to increase the pressure for greater transparency and accountability.
The insertion of Phillips into a pivotal role in the PNP aside, the team announced by Mrs Simpson Miller has drawn some flak: it is too big and too old.
I don't believe chronological age is the issue, though I had expected greater voice and responsibility to the second generation of leaders represented by people like Lisa Hanna. The real problem is whether the shadow cabinet will have something meaningful to say on the issues of concern to the Jamaican people, especially the young.
And Mrs Simpson Miller herself will have to show she can lead from the front, that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with voters. It is not enough to expect victory on the basis of Bruce's troubles.
kcr@cwjamaiva.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1Nv8UNxQs
Claude Robinson
Sunday, May 29, 2011
THE good news that the economy is moving from recession to recovery was just beginning to sink in when Prime Minister Bruce Golding was rocked by the political equivalent of a category seven earthquake. And it could be followed by crashing tsunami waves, if media reports turn out to be accurate.
Following a Sunday Observer scoop last week, James Robertson confirmed that he was the Cabinet minister whose non-immigrant visa had been revoked by the United States; he promptly resigned as minister of energy and mining.
SIMPSON MILLER… needs to show that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with voters
GOLDING… cannot be sure that there will be no further visa cancellations or other actions by the United States
ROBERTSON… would have been told the reasons for the cancellation of his US visa
SIMPSON MILLER… needs to show that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with votersUnder normal circumstances, the resignation would only require the prime minister to find a replacement and move on.
But these times are anything but normal for Mr Golding: He cannot be sure that there will be no further visa cancellations or other actions by the United States, given the uneasy relationship between Kingston and Washington.
Three ministers are reportedly under Grand Jury investigation in the US; the Manatt/Coke Commission of Enquiry is to report shortly and that can hardly bring any joy; the razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives does not offer much choice for Cabinet picks; and the prime minister's own loss of credibility reduces the command and control that a leader can normally exert.
On top of all that, the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is beginning to put its own house in order and gear up for an election which it says it expects at any time, perhaps well ahead of the September 2012 due date.
As reported by this newspaper Thursday, the prime minister, "fretting that the fate of James Robertson could befall other members of his administration," has assigned his deputy, Dr Ken Baugh, to ascertain why the United States revoked the former mining and energy minister's visa.
Of course, the worry for Mr Golding and his Cabinet cannot be just to find out more details about the Robertson case. They should already have some answers.
In a March 10, 2010 column, Ask The US Embassy, in the Observer dealing with US immigration policy and practice, the American Embassy explained the regulations for handling visa revocation.
They explained that once a consular officer "decides to revoke a visa the officer must, if practicable, notify the visa holder of the intention to revoke the visa; allow the visa holder the opportunity to show why the visa should not be revoked; and request the visa holder to present the passport in which the visa was issued for physical cancellation". These conditions are normally met in a face-to-face interview at the embassy.
Unless procedure was ignored -- and we have no basis for suggesting it was -- Mr Robertson would have been told the reasons for the cancellation. We also know that the prime minister was briefed on Friday, two days before the story appeared. So he too would know more than what has been reported.
Given the political weight of a visa cancellation of a Cabinet minister of a friendly government, we have to assume that the US action was taken after careful consideration of the facts and the possible consequences. This was not the action of a lowly consular officer off on a frolic of his/her own.
Hence, when the Golding administration says it is seeking further and better particulars in the Robertson case, we can reasonably interpret that as a hope that US Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater will tell Foreign Affairs Minister Baugh if there will be aftershocks in the wake of the Robertson tremor. It can hardly be about reversing the decision and returning to business as usual.
The lead story in last Thursday's Observer, 'Visa worries', pointed to possible aftershocks. "Just over a year ago, reports out of New York said three unnamed senior government ministers were under the microscope of the Grand Jury of the Southern District Court of New York which indicted Christopher 'Dudus' Coke last August on alleged gun-running and drug-trafficking charges.
"Well-informed Observer sources said the Americans were contending that the Jamaican Government officials had conspired to prevent information from reaching the Grand Jury in the Coke case, at the time the latest in the fallout from the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips law firm controversy.
"Investigators probing breaches of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) involving the Government of Jamaica and the US law firm were piecing together evidence they said would expose the alleged link between the Government officials, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, and Coke, the former Tivoli Gardens strongman."
The report raises many serious questions: Who are the three ministers? Will there be more visa cancellations? Will there be indictments and requests for extradition?
The revocation, in the context of criminal investigations underway in Jamaica and the US, raises more troubling questions: Is the United States pushing around a small, Third World nation with limited capacity to defend itself? Or, are the Americans forcing us to pull back from a very dangerous place where organised criminal enterprises are exercising unprecedented control over vital institutions of the Jamaican state?
If it is American bullying, then our Government should say so. If it is not, then, as Jamaican citizens, we have to ask why our country must wait for the US to push us to do what decent governments are ordinarily expected to do.
As he ponders his limited options for the Cabinet reshuffle that he has again promised, the prime minister would be well-advised not to appoint or retain anyone that could be an embarrassment soon, resulting from any of the ongoing probes. Mr Golding alone knows the cards he has in his hands at the present time.
PNP reshuffle could start renewal
Meanwhile, PNP President Portia Simpson Miller revealed her long-promised shadow cabinet as a step in the start of what could be a renewal process in a party that needs to show it has the people and the ideas to tackle the 21st-century problems facing the country.
On the face of it, the most significant political move was shifting Dr Omar Davies, the former finance minister, from a portfolio he has long occupied, replacing him with Dr Peter Phillips, a former minister of national security and two-time unsuccessful challenger for Mrs Simpson Miller's top job.
Recently, Dr Davies has been singled out and targeted by the Government for the presumed mishandling of the economy during his long stint in government, and personally blamed for the financial-sector crisis of the mid-1990s. Hence, the move provides an opportunity for the PNP to reshape the debate about economic and financial policy and strategy; and it takes Davies out of the cross-hairs of Finance Minister Audley Shaw.
The move should also make the PNP more attractive to the private sector in policy terms as well as in generating funding for the election campaign. With Phillips as director of the PNP election campaign, this connection may be invaluable.
Davies, at transport and works, will be more energetic and forceful than the previous spokesman, PNP chairman Bobby Pickersgill, in challenging Works Minister Mike Henry on spending in the portfolio, especially the multi-billion Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP). Given the political benefits the Government can reap from targeted spending under the programme, Davies can be expected to increase the pressure for greater transparency and accountability.
The insertion of Phillips into a pivotal role in the PNP aside, the team announced by Mrs Simpson Miller has drawn some flak: it is too big and too old.
I don't believe chronological age is the issue, though I had expected greater voice and responsibility to the second generation of leaders represented by people like Lisa Hanna. The real problem is whether the shadow cabinet will have something meaningful to say on the issues of concern to the Jamaican people, especially the young.
And Mrs Simpson Miller herself will have to show she can lead from the front, that she can articulate a vision and practical programme which will resonate with voters. It is not enough to expect victory on the basis of Bruce's troubles.
kcr@cwjamaiva.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1Nv8UNxQs