Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
CONTRIBUTED -
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Michael Peart (left), accepts the resignation letter from outgoing Opposition Leader, Edward Seaga, at Gordon House on January 11.
NOT MANY politicians in modern Jamaican history have evoked the passion of their countrymen as Edward Seaga. Indeed, only Alexander Bustamante, the former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader and prime minister, and Seaga's great rival, Michael Manley, come close.
Yesterday Mr. Seaga, 74, reported to the House of Representatives for the final time as member of Parliament for West Kingston, a post he held since 1962 when Jamaica gained Independence from Great Britain. In June last year, he announced that he would be stepping down as leader of the JLP after 30 years.
Mr. Seaga was the toast of yesterday afternoon's parliamentary session, just as Manley was in 1993 when he left representational politics due to illness.
STORMY RELATIONSHIPS
On Monday, The Gleaner spoke to four persons who have had stormy relationships with Mr. Seaga over the years. They are Karl Samuda, JLP general secretary and North Central St. Andrew MP; Pearnel Charles, one of the aspirants to succeed Mr. Seaga as JLP leader; Harry Douglas, South East St. Mary MP and Senator A. J. Nicholson, minister of justice.
Mr. Samuda left the JLP in the early 1990s following a bust-up with Mr. Seaga and joined the PNP. His now infamous statement, made on a PNP platform, that the JLP was filled with "wimps, yes men and lackeys", was later used by the PNP as an effective campaign ad during the 1997 general elections, shortly after Mr. Samuda returned to the JLP.
"Mr. Seaga's contribution to Jamaica has been perhaps the most significant than anyone in the last 40 years, in that he's not only a political thinker, but someone who always steps outside the box and looks at the broader picture," said Mr. Samuda. "His work in West Kingston is a microcosm of what he'd expect of all Jamaica, in that you develop the social, cultural and economic well-being of the people. No one has demonstrated the transformation of a community than he has with the communities of West Kingston."
Mr. Douglas said he was one of the people who demonstrated against the bulldozing of squatter settlements of West Kingston in 1966, a process initiated by Mr. Seaga to construct low-income houses. He said his view of Mr. Seaga has changed considerably since then.
"I have a lot of respect for Mr. Seaga in the way he works, although I disagree with some of his methods. When they were bulldozing Back-O-Wall, I was a young, vibrant PNP man demonstrating against it, but I have come to appreciate the vision he had in turning a slum of poor black people into a modern community."
VERBAL CLASHES
Mr. Charles has had his share of verbal clashes with Mr. Seaga going back to the Gang of Five affair that split the party in the early 1990s.
"There are virtues Mr. Seaga possesses beyond the measure of many of his contemporaries," said Mr. Charles. "His integrity, his ability and his courage, many dare to ever question; I have had the opportunity to work with him since the start of my political career and we have had tough times and good times but I have always respected him."
Senator Nicholson has also taken Mr. Seaga to task on several legal issues, but chose to look at the JLP leader's strong points on Monday.
"This is not the time for that (the negatives)," said Mr. Nicholson. "What I will say is that he's a most tenacious person, and that's a quality that is required in public life in Jamaica."
