The Line in the sand for the JLP part7

With the comic relief the cartoonists from both major newspapers offer these indeed aren't laughing matters, the rift between Minister of Justice Dorothy Lightbourne and member of Parliament who held the same position in his tenure under the PNP administration is expanding during the commission of enquiry of the Manatt Phelps and Phillips issue. The other commission that is also running that of Finsac is not getting much attention which may well add some well needed feathers to the Jamaica Labour Party's cap giving the deepening cynicism in the public domain towards politics. Many witnesses in that commission outline the horror stories of the way they were treated by The Financial Sector Adjustment Company FINSAC which was set up to deal with the fall out in the economy following the crashes in some financial institutions under the then PNP administration. Clearly the opposition People's National Party PNP is using all the soundbites created by K. D. Knight to gain traction image wise towards the upcoming general

elections due in 2012 which makes some wonder if there is a real search for truth from this commission? but they are also not viewed as a viable option in a way despite the public's discontent with the JLP's tenure up to now.

The poor show of the three commissioners themselves in restraining and controlling the conduct of councils and witnesses is also glaring. The exchanges during the cross examination of Ms Lightbourne by Mr. Knight have become our daily local soap opera with every question and every jab taken by both Mr. Knight and Miss Lightbourne getting loud responses when one observes the public's reaction where television sets broadcast the live action in banks, supermarkets and offices almost distracting persons from doing their work thus showing the political divide in a sense as well. We saw the heckling of Mr. Knight by JLP supporters in one instance after a sitting where Ms Lightbourne revealed he had said labourites are to die some 30 years ago to her, something she seems to have carried all these years which may suggest the repeated clashes on the parliament floor as well between the two when they each occupied both sides of power, Mr. Knight seemed genuinely stunned by the allegation and demanded an apology, Ms Lightbourne conceded.

The feed is also available live through the JIS and other mediums, the news story from the Observer as well Lightbourne accused of corruptly using office to save PM's career is not going down well in some circles on the face of it Mr. Knight has got her where he wants her now with rigorous cross examination during the March 14th sitting of the commission.

K. D. Knight attorney for the opposition

see Lloyd B Smith's Observer article: Of Knight and light...

and Mark Wignall's: How could you, Attorney General!

GO HERE: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jistv2 for live action. The Prime Minister is expected to take the stand too. It seems the government again was caught off guard and never expected the whole turn of events including the commission to become such a big political salad for them maybe they may just become a one term administration after all, complaints still come from the public in terms of the stagnation in lifestyle, the long lines at public health facilities following the implementation of free healthcare, the demands from teachers for better pay, the escalating crime situation and the non delivery of the jobs jobs jobs election promise to name a few.

With the resignation of Labour Party member of parliament for South West St Catherine Everald Warmington almost throwing the country into a constitutional tailspin linked to the dual citizenship matters as he holds citizenship to the United States he apparently cleared the way for a bi-election to be held soon however his boorish behaviour in the public domain and to sections of the press in particular has sparked outrage with The Press and Manufacturers Associations decrying the episodes and asking the Prime Minister not to allow him to be nominated in the upcoming bi-election in his constituency. The belief was he did it to save the JLP's slim majority and in an admission of sorts the PM conceded. More calls are now coming, The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and some female media practitioners have also called for his removal

The LGBT community is already turned off from the administration due to the lack of interest in dealing with rights based issues and the made up gay marriage debate from early in their tenure plus that unforgettable "not in my cabinet" rant coupled with subsequent interviews on homosexuality that the PM chose to tackle elsewhere. The hypocritical opposition also sided with the JLP in decrying the supposed gay marriage request or invented debate in order to remove any hint to gay rights from the Charter of Rights as was debated at the time. We must not let these matters just go away simply because they happened a while back.

The accusation of buggery leveled at one of the party's own though being kept quiet is still in the mind of some persons out there who have not forgotten.

Bag all the above together what do we have? A recipe for one term ?

Lets continue to watch.

Peace and tolerance

H

cartoons from the Observer and the Gleaner