“Oh what a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive.”

WHEN you examine the current happenings in the Jamaica Labour Party, one cannot ignore the appropriateness of this famous line.

The recent chain of events in the Jamaica Labour Party is an indication of the messy type of politics that has been practised in this country for years and remains the core among several long-serving politicians. The undated resignation letters that were used by Opposition Leader Andrew Holness to oust Senators Arthur Williams and Christopher Tufton, an action which stunned the nation into a constitutional silence, seem to be the political ghost that is now haunting the party and may very well inflict more damage to its already fragile party than is anticipated. On the flipside, it may be the precedent for landmark constitutional reform across the Caribbean. There is no doubt, however, it will certainly be a historical act.

The letters were crafted by Senator Williams. The fact that Williams exuded such confidence to take the matter to court to prove the unconstitutionality of them, one would argue that it is a clear indication that he did not believe in the constitutionality or legality of the letters from the onset. If so, what exactly was Williams’ real motive for engineering these letters in the first place? But whatever his motive, he certainly got caught in his own web.

Still, he claims to feel vindicated. Vindicated from what? Wasn’t he complicit in this act? Why does it seems he is absolving himself of any blame in this act? As Jamaican’s would say “him wash him han’ clean clean”. However, there is another old Jamaican saying that say “when yuh a dig hole, dig two”. Too bad Arthur forgot about that.

It did not stop there. ‘King’ Arthur had to be Shylock. He needed his pound of flesh, hence it was off to the Constitutional Court. And, guess what? A pound of flesh he did get. Now that he has it, what is he going to do with it? Only the ticking of the clock will reveal same. I believe, however, that the country could certainly benefit from this pound of flesh by learning the lessons that lie therein.

Arthur Williams is not my only source of discontent. The urgent call from Delroy Chuck for the leader of the Opposition to resign has me baffled. I’m not baffled because I don’t believe Holness acted wrongly, but that the call came with such urgency, and, I believe, tossed in a linear direction.

Not to insulate Holness of any wrongdoing, but he agreed to the concept of undated resignation letters based on advice he received from a trusted advisor. The other senators also agreed. One would call this a draconian method of leadership, and I wouldn’t dispute it. However, as far as I know, an advisor is suppose to be a trusting person whose wisdom and foresight is unquestionable. ‘King’ Arthur, with these series of actions has proven himself to be one void of such traits. So, why does he feel vindicated again?

So, if Chuck has called for Andrew Holness’s resignation as leader of the Opposition, what then is he asking of ‘King’ Arthur who is the mastermind behind the letters? What then is he asking of all the people who foolishly signed those letters and made themselves appear to be puppets on a string? Instead of pointing fingers, they need to look at the role played by everyone in this ugly, unconstitutional matter. They should look at the implications and examine the best way forward; not just for the party, but also the country it hopes to one day lead.

On another note, I want to hasten to point out that the JLP does not have a history of healing quickly from internal fracas as the PNP does. The fact that Delroy Chuck so hastily ‘chuck-off’ boldly and called for a resignation, ignoring the other variables in this issue, forces one to presume that he has very little support for the party leader. I am going off on a limb to presume that Delroy Chuck’s resignation call may very well be hinged on the residues of the bitter internal leadership challenge led by Audley Shaw, as well as the fact that he was initially omitted from the shadow Cabinet of the Opposition leader.

Well-known leadership author Jack Kinder wrote in one of his books that: “You’re not made in a crisis; you’re revealed. When you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice. When you squeeze a lemon, you get lemon juice. When a human being gets squeezed, you get what’s inside: positive or negative.”

This constitutional crisis that the JLP is now faced with seems to be revealing the internal happenings within the JLP, and dare I say it is certainly not positive. When will our political parties get it right? When will our leaders realise that old-school politics does not bear fruit?

At a time like this, with this political precipitation of the PNP, the JLP should be gaining traction and presenting itself as a viable alternative party to lead the nation. But how can it convince the nation with the tailspin from this incident? Will they be able to untangle themselves and have a completely oiled machinery if the prime minister should now call the general election?

Again, only the ticking of the clock will tell. Even Anancy the spider sometimes becomes entangled in his own web.

Dorraine Reid is an educator who also holds a Master of Science degree in public sector management. Comments: rainereid@gmail.com