Change of heart
Published:Thursday | October 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
General Secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Karl Samuda, has declared he is reconsidering his decision to stay away from the post, out of a recognition that his skills are needed to heal an ongoing rift and unify the party.
Samuda's new stance came a day after the leak to media of contents of a damning letter from attorneys for long-standing party member Harold Brady to party leader, Prime Minister Bruce Golding. The September 15 letter, which contains claims that appear to contradict public statements from Golding on the ongoing Manatt, Phelps & Phillips fiasco, preceded the defamation lawsuit filed against the prime minister by Brady last week.
Yesterday, Samuda admitted to The Gleaner that the rift in the party was great, but maintained healing was possible if the issue threatening to rip it asunder is handled professionally and delicately.
"For the past six years, since I took over (as general secretary), my focus has been to unify the party, and that remains my focus," he said.
"I am confident that I can make a difference in bringing this matter to a resolution."
Supports golding
At the same time, the embattled Samuda declared that he has Golding's back.
He vowed he would fight to protect the integrity of the party, its leadership and its structures, a task he said would require experience, knowledge, wisdom and tact.
The usually straight-shooting Samuda, his tone noticeably conciliatory, said he had been approached by "several persons" who had prevailed on him to stay on as general secretary.
He declined to name the individuals in his corner.
Asked why the party had failed to bring the curtain down on the Manatt affair, Samuda echoed the claims of other party officials that the matter had been laid to rest, but persons in the public have kept up attempts to resurrect the issue.
Samuda seemed far more upbeat than in recent days as he spoke with The Gleaner about his change of heart.
At the weekly Standing Committee meeting of the party on Monday night, he confirmed speculation raging in and out of the JLP that he would bow out of any internal election.
But, seemingly out of the clear blue, Samuda recanted on Tuesday night.
He claimed he was moved to action by the contents of the letter to Golding from Brady's lawyers.
Samuda stopped short of suggesting the letter was released into the public domain by persons bent on bringing the strife-torn party into disarray.
Vigorously dismissed
Yesterday, the general secretary vigorously dismissed reports that there was bad blood between himself and the party leader.
"Up to late last night, we were together dealing with issues concerning the Government and the party," he declared.
However, Samuda conceded that there were "disagreements, between myself and the prime minister", which he contended were not unusual in the party.
Samuda was also quick to stress that he had decided months ago that he would not stay on as general secretary and had conveyed his position to Golding and the Standing Committee.
"So, contrary to reports in the media and elsewhere, I was never in any race ... I had served notice of my intention to focus on my ministerial responsibilities," he asserted.