WITH BRUCE GOLDING having been formally installed leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) yesterday, that party has taken another step in consolidating leadership changes begun just under a year ago.These changes, hopefully, will take the party further along a path of cleaning up the mess of its internal wranglings and notorious in-fighting and so move in a direction that is focused on effective political representation.
Beyond the changes in personnel, the country should be doggedly interested in the vision that Mr. Golding and his slate of officers will bring to the table. The public should also be keen to keep the spotlight on the new officers in demanding that they articulate and demonstrate a commitment to nation building under-girded by personal integrity. We simply should not be satisfied with nice sounding phrases that are mere platitudes.
This should be as equally applicable to the JLP as to the People?s National Party or any other persons or groups offering themselves for public office.
There remains of course the knotty issue of Mr. Golding being elected as a Member of Parliament to assume the presumptive role as Leader of the Opposition. This timing is now in the hands of the Prime Minister who has the power to call a by-election for West Kingston. It is understandable that in the nature of our competitive politics, Mr. Patterson, as president of the PNP, will not be overly eager to help his political opponents in their effort to get back on an even keel. It may even be argued that were he to prolong the process, Mr. Patterson is being consistent as with previous by-elections due in the life of his administration.
We do believe, however, exploiting any such short-term advantage would be misplaced when there are so many other issues demanding national attention and energy.
Serving the public interest should be uppermost in the minds of the representative of our political system. Jamaicans have long grown impatient with the politics of one-upmanship. The preservation of our bipartisan democracy is the preferred platform from which to face the regional and global challenges of this new millennium. There must be new paths and fresh vision as new leadership takes the reins
