THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WOULD like to add my view to the Bruce Golding debate.
The fact is Mr. Golding defected from the JLP shortly after Mr. Seaga declared that there was no one in the party capable of leading it at the time. Mr. Seaga had, in fact, insulted the broad mass of the party's hierarchy particularly Mr. Golding who was seen as the "heir apparent".
Anyone with "cojoness" should have left the JLP then. Mr. Golding did just that and later formed the NDM in 1997 with the pretext that he "could no longer be a part of the sea of evil, wickedness, corruption and criminality, that has engulfed the two traditional parties in their fight for state power". He then began to agitate for constitutional reform as a condition for remaining in politics.
Mr. Golding was a part of this "sea of wickedness" for about thirty years. What took him so long to see the light? I saw it six months after I returned to Jamaica in 1972. In fact, I created a new political system that was published in this newspaper on November 17, 1992, that in my view is better than any system so far in universal use, but nobody is taking me on as it eliminates tribalism, corruption, and the sea of wickedness that Bruce talks about. Some of the suggestions I made in that publication are the very same things Bruce is talking about. I had sent a copy to him when he established the NDM.
Having so much knowledge and hands-on experience in politics, Bruce should have known that the NDM was doomed for failure within the context of present day Jamaican politics. There are two political tribes here "perpetually at war fighting each other for scarce benefits". When this was revealed to him in the most graphic way in the general election of 1997 (having lost his own seat) and again in the St. Ann by-election he dumped the NDM.
It is a question of power, and Bruce wants power more than I need oxygen and I need oxygen real bad.
The fact is under the West-minster system of government the Prime Minister is a "democratically elected dictator" (DED), particularly in underdeveloped or developing countries of the former British Empire.
Bruce's only hope of becoming a "DED" is to return to the JLP. Mr. Seaga is on his last lap and this is most likely the last election he will contest.
Bruce will then fight tooth and nail for the leadership of the party. If he is successful he could very well become the "DED" in 2006 or 2007 and his constitutional reform will be dead as well as no dictators strip themselves of power.
It will be business as usual. If he loses the leadership to another candidate he will then quit politics forever in spite of his preoccupation with constitutional reform and "dedication" to the Jamaican people. Mark my word.
I am etc.,
AL RICHARDS
alfonz112@cwjamaica.com
