By Omar Anderson, Gleaner WriterFOLLOWING A withdrawal from the position by party leader Edward Seaga, Bruce Golding, chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), is also now the new chairman for the party's Operation Council.
Mr. Seaga withdrew after it was pointed out to him by other JLP officials that it was the chairman of the party who should chair the Operation Council. Sources told The Gleaner that that matter was settled amicably on Monday, compared to the recent wrangling between the two men over who should chair the party's influential Selection Committee.
"The manual of the party's Operation Council states that the chairman of the party is the chairman of the council," general secretary Karl Samuda told The Gleaner yesterday when contacted for comments. "The fact that Mr. Seaga chaired it in the initial stages was nothing but an oversight."
Mr. Samuda said the Operation Council consists of all the party officers and co-opted persons, who together oversee sensitive party matters. He however refused to state what some of these 'sensitive' matters were. However, sources told The Gleaner part of the Operation Council's mandate include evaluating Members of Parliament, constituency caretakers, mayors, and minority parish council leaders.
