A remorseful Prime Minister Bruce Golding last night apologised to Jamaica for his handling of the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition issue and its spinoff controversy — the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips saga — that have rocked the country since last August and eroded public trust in the Government.

In a national broadcast in which he bared his soul to the nation, Golding admitted deep personal hurt and acknowledged that members of his family and the Jamaican people suffered pain and disappointment from the entire episode in which his ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) played a central but shadowy role.

“In hindsight, the party should never have become involved in the way that it did, and I should never have allowed it, but I must accept responsibility for it and express my remorse to the nation,” said the prime minister.

He said that the way the matter was handled raised the question of trust and conceded that the disappointment expressed by several persons and organisations should not have surprised him, as he had raised the bar as to what they should expect of him and what has transpired has fallen short of their expectations.

“I want to personally thank the wide cross section of persons who took the trouble to write to me, not all complimentary but all expressing the deep anguish that they experienced over what had transpired. Others have offered their prayers and to all I am deeply grateful,” said Golding.

“I am aware that trust can only be restored by forgiveness and atonement. That will take time, and I am committing myself to do everything that is humanly possible to repair the damage that has been done to that trust. In return, I ask for your forgiveness, he said.

However, last night, in a swift and caustic response, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller said “up to now the nation is not aware of what the prime minister is to be forgiven for, since he has failed to come clean and lay out fully what he has done”.

She also took issue with Golding’s announcement that Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne will sign the authorisation for the extradition process against Coke to commence, arguing that the decision was a desperate attempt to rescue Golding’s political career and perpetuate him in the Office of Prime Minister.

“The People’s National Party maintains that the prime minister must resign due to his pattern of persistent evasiveness, deception and betrayal of public trust, which has destroyed his credibility,” said Simpson Miller.

She also said that his statement did not address “the numerous misleading and contradictory statements” made regarding the engagement of the US law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and in this regard, the PNP would table a no-confidence motion against Golding in Parliament.

In his statement, Golding said that the engagement of Manatt by local attorney Harold Brady was an effort to secure assistance in resolving the stalemate between Jamaica and the USA caused by Kingston’s insistence that the Americans provide evidence against Coke that did not, in the view of Jamaica, breach his constitutional rights.

The JLP, Golding said, was concerned about the negative effect the stand-off was having on relations between Jamaica and the United States.

“I sanctioned this initiative but made it clear that it was to be kept completely separate from the Government,” he said. “As I later discovered, those instructions were not followed. Having sanctioned it, I cannot escape responsibility for it or the developments that have ensued although I was not myself involved in those activities.”

He said that when he was asked in Parliament whether the Government had engaged the services of the law firm, he answered truthfully and definitively that it had not done so.

Said Golding: “It is felt that I should, there and then, have acknowledged the party initiative led by Mr Brady. On reflection, I should have, and tonight I express my profound regret and offer to the Parliament and people of Jamaica my deepest apologies.