IF Bruce Golding, the man who is one of the front runners for the leadership of Jamaica Labour Party, wins in November the JLP will have a party leader separate from that of opposition leader as Golding does not hold a seat in parliament.

“Bruce cannot be leader of the opposition. That person can only come from among the 26 JLP members of parliament in the House,” explained Arthur Williams, a senior party lawyer and former deputy general secretary.

Golding was appointed an opposition senator after the 2002 general elections which saw the JLP winning 26 of the 60 seats in the House. Golding was credited for the party’s good showing at the polls.

Said Williams: “He (Party Leader Edward Seaga) may decide to stay on (as MP) come November as well, so the 26 JLP MPs would have to choose a leader, so there would have to be some negotiation if say an Audley Shaw wins (the JLP leadership).”

However, speaking on the implications of Golding winning the leadership of the party without a seat, a precedent set in 1944 by Norman Manley who lost his seat but remained People’s National Party (PNP) leader, Williams said it would depend on a current JLP MP sacrificing his/her seat to facilitate the calling of a by-election, and then the will of the prime minister to authorise the calling of such an election.