By Garwin Davis and Roy Sanford, Gleaner ReportersTHE CENTRAL Executive of the Jamaica Labour Party was divided yesterday on the status of a delegates meeting held in Montego Bay. Party chairman Bruce Golding insisted that the closed-door meeting only held 'informal discussions'; but others said the real focus was whether the party could remain viable with Edward Seaga as leader.
Mr. Golding told journalists that the meeting was not an official gathering of the party's Central Executive, adding that it would not be appropriate to openly defy the wishes of Mr. Seaga.
"There are members of the Central Executive who are gathered here today," Mr. Golding said. "I advised them that it would be inappropriate to attempt to convene a meeting of the Central Executive given the circumstances that prevailed over the last 72 hours."
The party's Central Executive was expected to meet formally yesterday but the meeting was abruptly called off on Mr. Seaga's instructions on Friday.
Saying there was no reasonable justification for the cancellation, a number of delegates, including some senior party officials, made it known on Saturday that they had no intention of abiding by the dictates of Mr. Seaga, promising that therewould be an official meeting of the Central Executive yesterday.
Mr. Golding, chaired the meeting, which had in attendance deputy leaders James Robertson and Horace Chang, deputy general secretaries Don Creary, Devon McDaniel and André Franklyn, G2K president Chris Tufton and MPs Shahine Robinson and J.C. Hutchinson. He persuaded the group, belonging mostly to the reformist faction of the party, that it would not be wise to convene the meeting as an official gathering of the Central Executive, arguing that they would get their opportunity in the future to have their grouses heard.
"The gathering was for the purpose of informal discussions," he told reporters afterwards. "I told them that I could not support any attempts to convene it as a Central Executive meeting... we could not openly defy the leader in that way."
But sources who attended the meeting said Mr. Golding was being 'mild' in his remarks to the press.
"For starts, there were 78 members present, one of the largest Central Executive meetings in years," one source noted. "This in itself was defiance. We decided against calling it a formal meeting of the Central Executive only because we did not want to give Mr. Seaga and others the opportunity to say decisions were taken without them having a say. On the 18th of July when he wants to have the meeting, our voices will be heard... if he's buying time, so be it."
Daryl Vaz, treasurer for Area Council Two, said, "The decision not to have a formal meeting should not be seen as any backing away from a position," he said. "The JLP is not a one-man show... Mr. Seaga needs to know that," Mr. Vaz said. "The 78 delegates who were in attendance all agreed that there is no way for the party to move forward with him as leader. People were very forthright in their determination that enough is enough... the time is up for diplomacy."
