Warmington lashes Bruce; party chairman downplays outburst
Published:Sunday | July 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Prime Minister Bruce Golding, was reportedly floored last Monday night by a salvo of charges and allegations against him by a former loyalist at the weekly meeting of the party's Standing Committee, even as other members made no effort to intervene.
Senior party insiders told The Sunday Gleaner that Golding sat in stoic silence as controversial Member of Parliament Everald Warmington "cussed him out" for his handling of a wide range of issues in his capacity of prime minister and JLP leader. The explosive Warmington vented his anger over how Golding "had messed up" in the Manatt-Dudus debacle.
Stormy Outburst
Everald Warmington has upbraided the prime minister for his treatment of former justice minister and attorney general Dorothy Lightbourne and was critical of Golding's decision to appoint Ransford Braham, who he described as Golding's "personal lawyer", as attorney general.
Warmington said the prime minister's controversial trip to Paraguay was ill-timed and not properly thought out, among other things. He was critical of Golding's leadership style, accusing the prime minister of making far-reaching decisions without consultation.
The popularity of the JLP leader also came under sharp focus. Reference was made to the fact that favourability rating of the JLP is higher than that for Golding.
Monday night's Standing Committee served as the clearest indicator that the relationship between Golding and elements among the party membership remains sour, as Warmington complained that he hated to admit that former JLP leader Edward Seaga was correct in his assessment of Golding.
But speaking with The Sunday Gleaner later in the week, JLP chairman Mike Henry sought to put Warmington's outburst in context. "In the political arena, people become enchanted and disenchanted," he said. "They make statements and react in every sense of the way, and in a democratically structured party, they should be able to speak and be corrected and they should be able to stand by the issues that you have to address."
'There is no division'
Asked whether Warmington's statement has widened the rift in the JLP, Henry maintained that there was no division. "There are persons in the whole structure of how you readjust your party machinery, who sometimes are enchanted and other times disenchanted."
He suggested that individuals may even feel alienated. "I am one who can speak to that experience," he asserted. "In the final analysis, your party is the one you rally with. So in that context, there is no further division. I do not know that anything was being acted on beyond what Mr Warmington wanted to express and, as you are aware, issues have occurred with Mr Warmington in the past. We will deal with them within the party."
Last year, in the heat of controversy when a sizeable portion of the public demanded his resignation, Golding was reportedly disappointed that some influential members within the party had refused to side with him in the aftermath of the brouhaha which was precipitated by his comment that Brady should be ditched from the party.
Some prominent insiders have since said a committee should be established to examine the allegations that have been made against Golding.
The recently published Gleaner-Bill Johnson poll found that the favourability rating of the JLP is 34 per cent compared, to 32 for the prime minister.
Citing Joan Gordon-Webley, Wayne Chen, Gregory Mair and Michael Stern, among others, a seething Warmington accused Golding of installing his cohorts from the National Democratic Movement into "lofty positions".
Warmington charged that Golding was "more culpable" than Lightbourne in the handling of the US request for the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, but it was the former minister who was "unceremoniously booted" while Golding continues as prime minister.'