Labourites on Crack

[Don1]

Cracks Appear In The JLP
Published:Tuesday September 27, 2011


Major cracks are starting to appear in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as the race to replace the outgoing party leader, Prime Minister Bruce Golding begins.

It worsened last night at a meeting of the party’s Standing Committee at Belmont Road.

A JLP insider told our news centre that the Standing Committee meeting ended in disarray as the quarrel intensified heightening fears that it could escalate into a fight.

Our sources say the quarrel was about a meeting that Andrew Holness attended at the home of attorney-at-law Harold Brady on Sunday evening.

The meeting at Brady’s home took place hours after Golding announced that he was stepping down.

But it’s understood that the meeting ended with a clash between Labourites supporting Golding and those against him.

Our reports suggest that former government minister and JLP campaign director Karl Samuda and Daryl Vaz, the minister with responsibility for information, led the two factions which forced a premature end to the meeting.

JLP insiders say a proposal has been put on the table for Holness to stay out of the race and allow Finance Minister and JLP Deputy Leader Audley Shaw to be elected unopposed as a transitional leader.

But that option was rejected by Holness and his supporters including several powerful JLP supporters in the private sector.

It is being claimed that Audley Shaw is being backed by some of those who caused Mr Golding to resign.

As a result the Golding supporters are not interested in any deal to select a new leader.

Contenders to replace Golding have until October 21 to be nominated.

editorial@gleanerjm.com

[Peter R]

Pack of jokers! Will country ever come before self (ego)? or is true you need a big one (ego) fi tun leadah? nu suh sumaddy seh?

[Exile]

Surely they jest...isn't this supposed to be a smooth transition?

"See them fightin' for power,
but they know not the hour
so they bribing with their guns, spare-parts and money
tryin' to belittle our integrity now....
" - Bob.

[Assasin]

unnu a gwaan like people nuh have fi put their two cents forward and on the table.

make them duke it out. Smooth transition? How much time you hear that? If man have ambition them fi put it on the table, only repect the other man. Nuff more of this a go gwaan.

[Exile]

Duke it out? LOL. Shat soon lick:

"A JLP insider told our news centre that the Standing Committee meeting ended in disarray as the quarrel intensified heightening fears that it could escalate into a fight".

[Assasin]

Can the JLP grasp this moment?


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

THE decision of Prime Minister Bruce Golding not to seek re-election as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and to step aside as head of the executive as soon as a new party leader is elected at the party’s annual conference in November has presented the JLP with a tough challenge.
Tough because the party, during its 18 1/2 years in Opposition, had demonstrated a penchant for fractiousness, especially in relation to leadership issues.
We remember well the Gang of Five and Gang of 11 disputes, as well as other squabbles over leadership that ruptured the party over many years. In fact, it took the JLP several years and four election defeats to heal the wounds inflicted in those battles, and even then we got a sense that there still existed some residue of discontent within the ranks, albeit minuscule.
To be fair to the JLP, discord is a feature of political parties the world over. One of the most famous disputes that lives long in our memories was that between then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Party that resulted in her resignation in November 1990.
At the time, the former Defence and Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine stood against Mrs Thatcher who failed to win outright in the first ballot.
Mrs Thatcher had vowed to fight on to a second round of balloting but was persuaded by Cabinet members to withdraw.
It was indeed a bitter contest, so much so that Mrs Thatcher’s daughter, a journalist, described the Conservative legislators’ vote against her mother as “the most gutless act of treachery”.
We have no reason to believe that a similar level of bitterness now exists in the JLP, and it is our hope that the party will do everything possible to prevent the impending leadership race from descending into petty squabbles driven by ego.
As we see it, the JLP has a golden opportunity to strengthen the unity it has worked hard to build over the year leading up to the September 2007 general election, even as it encourages robust competition for the leadership.
It will be important for the party that it gives full support to the candidate that emerges victorious from the contest, as that individual will, in all likelihood, assume the taxing office of prime minister.
Indeed, after the vote at the party conference and the swearing-in of the new chief executive, that person will have to hit the ground running, as this country has serious issues with which to contend.
Besides the critical pact with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the jitters over predictions of a slip back into recession, next year is going to be a big one for Jamaica.
The symbolic achievement of 50 years of political Independence is a monumental opportunity for national reflection and selfevaluation. If lost, such an opportunity will not come again for another 50 years.
The 2012 London Olympic Games is an event that is vast in its potential for value-added to brand Jamaica, especially because our athletes have captured the imagination of the world and are contenders for unprecedented glory.
And then, of course, the general elections that will settle the issue of national leadership for the next five years, constitutionally.
Therefore, there is no need to belabour the point that for the new JLP leader there will be no honeymoon.
Historical moments in time often present difficult challenges, but they also provide unprecedented opportunities to prove greatness. Can the JLP grasp this moment?



Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz1ZCrrMqwZ

[Mosiah]

And when the people have no choice but to vote for the PNP yuh hear say PNP mash up di country. give the people an option!

i guess there is always the coalition or Rasta.

[Don1]

i guess there is always the coalition or Rasta.

Hmmm...you might have sintin deh

Dat might be a nice new gig for Flip Flop Bruce... from JLP to NDM to JLP to RASTA PARTY!!

Driva doan stap atall!!!

[Don1]

unnu a gwaan like people nuh have fi put their two cents forward and on the table.

make them duke it out. Smooth transition? How much time you hear that? If man have ambition them fi put it on the table, only repect the other man. Nuff more of this a go gwaan.

fi yuh 2 cents nat wort one dime

[Lazie]

And when the people have no choice but to vote for the PNP yuh hear say PNP mash up di country. give the people an option!

i guess there is always the coalition or Rasta.

stop try excusing yuh mistakes.

[Willi]

Hahahaha

Dat is a new one, is the labarite dem mek mi dweet!

[MdmeX]

Hmmm...you might have sintin deh

Dat might be a nice new gig for Flip Flop Bruce... from JLP to NDM to JLP to RASTA PARTY!!

Driva doan stap atall!!!

So you mean Mo would team up wid Brucie, if Brucie went the RASTA PARTY ROUTE

[1of1]

mi hear seh Robertson confront Vaz an gi him a two peice downtown, so mi hear

[Mosiah]

so the JLP was a viable option for most of those 18 years?

[Exile]

Yu wicked!