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Bruce Golding, left, and Edward Seaga.
Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
THE QUESTION of who should take responsibility for the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) defeat in the Mount Industry by-election in St. Catherine, remains unanswered as party leader Edward Seaga yesterday distanced himself from the JLP's loss in both Parish Council polls.
He said he certainly could not be blamed for the defeat in Bethel Town, Westmoreland, which he said the party realistically could not have won in any case.
Since Thursday, when the People's National Party (PNP) won the traditional JLP division, there have been talks as to who should be blamed. But Mr. Seaga told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday he could not be called to account because he had given up active leadership of the JLP several months ago.
BACKED OFF
"I had nothing to do with either of them (by-elections)," he said. "I backed off from that sort of stuff from the last six months."
According to Mr. Seaga, the campaign strategy employed in Mount Industry was decided by the party. He added that he only visited Mount Industry one evening "out of courtesy", adding that his low visibility in Mount Industry was deliberate to give prospective party leaders enough limelight.
"I wasn't there (actively campaigning), I don't know anything about it," he reiterated.
Meanwhile, reports reaching The Sunday Gleaner are that one of the reasons the JLP lost Mount Industry was because the election machinery of Member of Parliament Abe Dabdoub was disregarded and replaced at the last minute, giving the 'new' machinery insufficient time to make significant inroads.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited Mount Industry on Thursday, a number of JLP supporters were dressed in hats and T-shirts with the name "Bruce Golding" printed on them.
And according to one JLP insider, "If I was a stranger to the divisional seat, I would have thought Bruce was the candidate and not Beverley Howell."
Contacted yesterday, Mr. Dabdoub said he would not make any detailed comment until the loss was analysed.
"I have nothing to say except that Mr. Seaga had nothing to do with the campaigning," he stated. "I asked him to come and visit and he did so."
Mr. Golding yesterday refused to speak with The Sunday Gleaner, claiming the newspaper was being "mischievous" and "malicious". He referred us to General Secretary Karl Samuda who was campaign director in charge of Mount Industry.
DISMISSED SUGGESTIONS
The JLP general secretary dismissed as "absolute nonsense" what some party insiders are touting as a defeat for Mr. Golding in Mount Industry.
In a direct rebuttal to that view, Mr. Samuda said no one is to blame.
"You can't apportion blame when the (JLP) candidate did better than the candidate she was trying to replace," Mr. Samuda remarked. "Bruce Golding's name was only mentioned in passing (during the campaign) because a lot of the people there are in support of his candidacy for leadership."
He emphasised that the JLP's loss was a combination of factors including the impact of Henry Fisher's arrest, the perception that the party was in turmoil over leadership replacement, a claim that Mr. Dabdoub was inactive in his constituency, and the PNP bringing out their supporters to vote.
