Golding
Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
BRUCE GOLDING, faced with the prospect of a run-off against his brother-in-law, Pearnel Charles, for the Leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party in November, is professing confidence that their relationship will not be hurt by the contest.
He has, however, expressed regret at the sidelining of Mr. Charles during the infamous Gang of Five impasse that rocked the party more than a decade ago; a matter in which, he admits, he played a role as Chairman of the party.
It was in that capacity that Mr. Golding wrote to Pearnel Charles on October 10, 1990, advising him that he would not be allowed to contest the next general election.
That decision, made by the JLP's Standing Committee, followed accusations that Mr. Charles and fellow "Gang of Five" members Douglas Vaz, Errol Anderson, Karl Samuda, and Edmund Bartlett had undermined the leadership of Party Leader, Edward Seaga.
While pointing out that, as Party Chairman, he was merely carrying out his responsibility in conveying the decision of the Standing Committee, Mr. Golding now admits that it was a difficult task, "to the extent that it was a letter that I had to write to someone with whom I had a close relationship."
Asked whether the party had acted properly in its actions against Pearnel Charles and the others, Mr. Golding told The Sunday Gleaner "with hindsight, I don't think that we handled that situation very well."
Furthermore, he said, "The whole Gang of Five issue was mishandled, and I was part of that process. I think it had to do less with the allegations that were made, and I think it was one of the many instances of rumblings in the corridors of power within the party."
LEADERSHIP ISSUE
As he prepares to offer himself for the leadership of the JLP, Mr. Golding is now calling for a new sense of unity in his often fractious party.
That quest for unity, however, does not preclude a spirited leadership contest, possibly against his brother-in-law.
The leadership issue, he said, should not be settled "in the boardroom", in a process manipulated by a few power brokers, but "in the ballroom" where all delegates of the party will be given a chance to vote on their choice.
As for his own prospects, Mr. Golding, the presumed front-runner in the leadership race, is oozing confidence, boosted by the "overwhelming" response that he said he had been receiving from persons within and outside the party.
Striking a note similar to his earlier days in the National Democratic Movement, he said that he was promising, not just a new leader of the JLP, but a new style of leadership.
"The challenge is how to harness all of that energy to manage the process; to ensure that come November the party is re-energised and refocused. In the management of that process, what is going to be critical is that the party must come out of November with a strength of unity, the likes of which we have not seen for a long time," he said.
With many party members reportedly flocking to his campaign, Mr. Golding told The Sunday Gleaner that he would seek to avoid the very semblance of drug involvement on the part of his supporters or others in the party.
"I'm very scrupulously investigating any report that I get that anybody within the party, whether that person is regarded as supporting me or not, as to the involvement of any person in illicit activity," he said.
The question of party members involvement in such illicit activities, according to Mr. Golding, must be approached in a structured way "because it's not enough for me simply to be going around to people in the Police Force and people in various agencies. We have to have a system that does the background checks on people routinely that would have serious sanctions, both internally within the party as well as within the criminal justice system."
