On the front page of this site I commented that Jamaica is at a crossroads,at no time is this statement more profound than at this moment in time in our country’s history.
The reason/s behind Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s decision to step down is a monumental one , he is not the first Prime Minister to do so, but he may be the first to do so under totally unclear motivations. In the short period since 1962 there have been cases where prime ministers have demitted office for one reason or another, Donald Sangster died in office, Michael Manley stepped aside due to ill-health and made way for Patterson, who in turn stepped aside making way for Simpson Miller before his term expired.
None of these chief executives have demitted office under the cloud Golding has been under, ever since the débâcle involving his alleged bungling of the Christopher Coke extradition . There has been a sustained chorus-call for his resignation, we on these blogs has also called for his resignation, not for political reasons, but because we value country over all else.
There has also been a sustained call from other quarters for purely political reasons, reasons that have nothing to do with our country’s well-being, but are genised in a desire to see Jamaica return to the days of crash programme socialist hand outs. We are less inclined than others to suggest ulterior motives for the Prime Minister’s resignation , what we do know is that he just lost his mother, a loss which must weigh heavily on him, we wish mister Golding well and hope that heir apparent Andrew Holness will check any ego he has at the door .
We are well aware of the narcissistic egomania that is a staple of Jamaica’s politicians, Holness would be well advised not to take this to Jamaica House. As we have called on Golding to transcend politics and be a different kind of political leader, we also call on young Holness to shed the baggage of tribal politics and put country first, otherwise his demise will be assured as is the case with Golding.
We will await further developments before commenting further.
mike beckles.
heve your say.