Bruce at sea - Former PM yet to be formally honoured by colleagues

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding is to be formally honoured by his political colleagues in recognition of his service to Jamaica. But the question as to when this will happen remains unanswered.

With many of his colleagues in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) blaming him for the party's low support in the aftermath of the Manatt-Dudus saga, uncertainty shrouds Golding's likely attendance at any function to honour him.

"We want to do it," declared Delroy Chuck, leader of opposition business in the House of Representatives. "But this is subject to him agreeing and determining the appropriate time."

The party's general secretary, Aundré Franklin, agrees that Golding's retirement came at an awkward time.

But what is crystal clear to JLP members is that Golding is not fishing for political acknowledgement at this time.

New pastime

An informed source said while active politicians mull over the impending event for Golding, the former prime minister has slipped under the public radar but is hardly unoccupied. as he spends much of his time on a fishing boat that he recently acquired.

Even as Golding redirects his focus from the political landscape to the more relaxing pastime, JLP officials are at pains to give the impression publicly that no disrespect is intended for the man who served as JLP leader between 2005 and 2011 and prime minister between 2007 and 2011.

They, however, stress that the general election and the impending local government polls have served to throw the JLP timetable out.

Both the rival People's National Party (PNP) and the JLP agree that Golding should be formally acknowledged for his contribution to his party, Parliament, and country.

Phillip Paulwell, leader of government business in the House, also agrees that Golding should be honoured.

"The Government is certainly not averse to it, but I have not been approached by the leader of opposition business," said Paulwell.

Franklin promised that Golding will definitely be honoured. "Absolutely!" he declared. "But you have to bear in mind that Mr Golding left and, a short time later, we went into a general election."

The JLP general secretary pointed out that not even the Central Executive - the most powerful organ of the JLP, after its annual conference - has been convened since Golding announced his retirement.

"The issue is timing. He was the party leader, and he has served with distinction, and the party will make the necessary public show of our love and affection in the form of a function to be held," said Franklin.

Chuck disclosed that he had raised the subject with Golding in the aftermath of the announcement to step down last year.

"We would have liked to have done it before the Parliament closed last year, but as you know, we were meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre and I spoke to him about an appropriate time, and before you know it, the election was upon us. So it is a matter to discuss with him the appropriate time to do something," Chuck told The Sunday Gleaner.

The son of Tacius Golding, the first speaker of the House of Representatives in independent Jamaica, Bruce Golding entered representational politics as a 'green' 24-year-old, earning the distinction of being the youngest politician to win a seat into what turned into a pockmarked political career.

Controversial exit

When Golding decided to throw in the towel at the tail end of 2011, his departure contrasted with that of Hugh Shearer and Edward Seaga, both former prime ministers in JLP administrations.

Unlike those two, Golding's farewell on that fateful Sunday last September, when he served notice to the party's central executive that he planned to quit representational politics, was shrouded in controversy and uncertainty.

Seaga was recognised for his work at the JLP's annual conference in 2005.

PNP presidents Michael Manley and P.J. Patterson were also honoured by their own at their annual party conferences in 1992 and 2006, as well as the nation's Parliament in which they served for many years.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com