THE EDITOR, Sir:"UNLESS THE Lord builds the house in vain do its builders labour" Psalm 127 verse 1.
We live in a world full of confusion and trouble of every kind. We are aware of the great number of difficulties we face each day in Jamaica: escalating crime - the violence of the gun and the knife and of injustice; unemployment; poor educational opportunities; inadequate housing; and lack of good leadership at all levels. These difficulties are worthy of our undivided attention whilst others are manufactured to gain our attention.
In the present impasse between the two contenders for leadership in the Jamaica Labour Party, Mr. Pearnel Charles and Mr. Bruce Golding, it is worth our while to examine the following:-
1. Our country has a written constitution, and conventions commonly referred to as the unwritten constitution. The written constitution makes provision for Government and the Opposition. The unwritten constitution gives us two political parties: the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party. These parties have been responsible for the two-party system in Jamaica;
2. As such, they belong to each and every Jamaican. They are not the private fiefdom of a few individuals.
3. In order to serve our country in the best possible way, these parties should always be ready and able either as Government of the day or Government-in-waiting;
4. We seek our own personal ends when we cause our resources, human and otherwise, to distract ourselves and others from their service to the country. The Jamaica Labour Party has been bogged down with frequent internal disputes over its long history and the present impasse will serve only to perpetuate the division within the membership of the party to the detriment of the country;
5. It is difficult to see how a Government-in-waiting can run the affairs of Jamaica when indeed it is not able to perform simple tasks to bring unity and purpose within its own immediate ranks. In such a confused environment, do we really believe that the Jamaica Labour Party will be able to fulfill the task ahead of the country to please God and others? In short, can we really depend upon these men to inspire love, unity and service in our nation when love and unity cannot be achieved in their own party;
6. If Mr. Charles and Mr. Golding and their supporters cannot serve us unselfishly in the non-contentious choosing of a leader of the party, then the time has come that they should graciously pass on such an honourable vocation to other fitting members of the party, such as, amongst others, Members of Parliament, Mr. Delroy Chuck, Dr. Ken Baugh, Mayor Desmond McKenzie. If the country's interests are genuinely first and foremost in the minds and hearts of Mr. Charles and Mr. Golding, then they will mutually agree to withdraw themselves from the disastrous race to leadership of the party and unite behind one of these fitting gentlemen to lead them. Short of doing this, they are hindering, and at best retarding our growth as a nation.
7. Let us have someone with a high level of maturity from the Jamaica Labour Party who can unite the country, inspire a vision for development, and move it forward, so that the party can be justly proud to be a Government-in-waiting. The party owes it to God and to the people of Jamaica;
8. The men and women in the Jamaica Labour Party owe a grave responsibility to God in this undertaking.
I am, etc.,
A CONTRIBUTOR
