IT is not because of the intense harassment he received from the PNP’s fiery spokesman, KD Knight, who seemed to have tried to destroy JLP personalities during the Commission of Inquiry into the Christopher “Dudus” Coke extradition affair, that led Bruce Golding to resign as leader of the JLP and prime minister. Among other things, Knight had told Golding to pack his bags and go.

Nor was it because of any indiscretion on Golding’s part in sanctioning the hiring of New York lawyers Manatt, Phelps and Phillips to bargain with the US State Department to go easy on the extradition. This was misguided action: when it comes to smuggling narcotics into their country the Americans are uncompromising because of the devastation illicit drugs are having on the poor, especially in inner cities there. I have seen this during three fellowship tours of the United States. Golding’s advisers should have known this before attempting to make contact with the US Department of Justice.

The main reason for Golding’s resignation was that he has lost confidence in some of the key members of the party’s inner circle for some time now. He had threatened before to resign, at least at two party meetings. There was a great deal of internal backbiting and criticism of Golding when he removed Dorothy Lightbourne as minister of justice and attorney general and Karl Samuda as minister of industry, investment and commerce.

Certain elements in the party were angry with how Golding “dumped” Lightbourne and left her out in the cold. Before all this, he fired noted attorney-at-law and JLP big shot, Harold Brady, a close associate of Lightbourne, who was handling aspects of the Coke extradition for the government. Out of the contention emerged a small gang of conspirators who pledged to get rid of Golding. Such a gang is nothing new in the JLP. In Edward Seaga’s time as leader of the party and prime minister, at least two such gangs were formed to oust Seaga. The cumulative effect of the internal warfare in the JLP led to its defeat in the 1989 general election and the return of the PNP administration to governance. There is a wide body of opinion across the country that Golding mishandled the extradition and he would be a liability to the party in next year’s general election.

Golding’s own explanation is that the entire episode concerning the extradition has affected him deeply and the perceptions by some people have not been dispelled, notwithstanding the exhaustive deliberations of a Commission of Inquiry. The Interception of Communications Act was breached and Coke’s constitutional rights were violated. However, the relevant law has since been amended so that such a violation of the constitution will not take place again.

After reading all the laws pertaining to the Act and the Extradition Treaty, this columnist repeatedly wrote that Coke’s constitutional rights were violated. I am still of that view.

More shocks might come arising from the Coke extradition issue between now and the end of December. Although Coke’s US legal advisers said he did not “sing” to the US authorities about top politicians in Jamaica, it would be quite unusual that the tough US Justice Department would go through with a plea bargain with Coke that resulted in lesser charges unless they received something (information) in return.

In his address Sunday night, Golding also said that he could not allow the challenges “we face and the issues we as people must confront to be smothered or overpowered by this saga and the emotions that they ignite”. There are other considerations that led to his decision. For example, it is time for “his generation to make way for younger people”.

And what of Golding’s personality? Hawks in the JLP argue that Golding is too compromising and indecisive. They want someone who is a political tiger, one who will stand up and not capitulate.

They are disappointed that when Golding came to power in 2007 he did not launch a campaign to state the negative position in which the PNP government had left the country. In the words of one party official, he let the PNP off the hook and they have now come back to taunt him.

However, there is another side of the equation. That Golding was a good leader there is no doubt. The prime minister and his government deserve a plus for moving the country from a negative position to a positive one: low inflation, stabilised foreign exchange rate, high net international reserves and macroeconomic stability in the middle of world economic recession and financial meltdown. His administration also reduced the level of crime significantly. There is also a bagful of incentives to fuel growth. However, Golding’s promise of “jobs, jobs, jobs” did not materialise to any appreciable extent because there was not sufficient local and foreign investment. The government seems to realise this because finance minister Audley Shaw and investment minister Dr Christopher Tufton went to the USA last week to secure more investment. But this will not happen unless there is political stability.

Therefore, the JLP has to decide its leadership issue quickly and decisively. The government must go forward with a singleness of purpose with no bickering and undermining.

The praise showered on Golding by the respected international newspaper, the Economist, did not surprise me.

Among other tributes, the paper said that “in spite of himself, he has been Jamaica’s most successful leader in decades”. To support this view, the Economist said that under Golding, Jamaica has had its debt restructured and reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund which has helped shore up the economy in spite of the tumultuous financial times across the globe.

It seems to me that at this stage the JLP has pulled itself down through disunity. The search is on for a new and younger leader to take over from Golding who is 64. Three people are leading in the running:

* Audley Shaw, 59, who has been performing relatively well as minister of finance and the public service. The outspoken Shaw is not likely to succumb to bullying by the Opposition.

* Andrew Holness, 39, who has made a good impression as minister of education.

* Dr Christopher Tufton, 43, minister of industry, investment and commerce who has made a great impact on farmers and moved agriculture forward when he was minister of agriculture.

Shaw, who is considered the favourite in senior party circles and the business community, could hold the prime minister and minister of finance positions, as did Edward Seaga.

Young Holness, immensely popular outside the party and with young Labourites, could retain the minister of education portfolio and fit in well as deputy prime minister.