The male ego and the hormone testosterone are, wrongly or rightly, often credited with the high quotient of courage that makes for mighty warriors in men and the ability to risk life and limb for a cause, while at the same time making it difficult to solve problems when male feelings are hurt.

We hope that it is not injured feelings which are getting in the way of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mr Mark Golding meeting to thrash out their differences over resumption of talks that would hopefully lead to agreement on constitutional reform and Jamaica going republic.

During the general election campaign some deeply wounding barbs were traded between Mr Holness’s Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Mr Golding’s People’s National Party (PNP), preceded by the Opposition’s decision to pull out of republic talks over the issue of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Readers will recall that, following the election, Dr Holness wrote to Mr Golding to say he, the Opposition leader, should meet with Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Delroy Chuck to get the talks back on track. Mr Golding wrote back to say he expected such a meeting to be at the level of the two party leaders.

A week ago, in our editorial titled ‘Constitutional talks: Politics is nothing short of a blood sport’, we contended that: “What compels the two leaders to meet is that lofty practice of statecraft which puts country above everything else, including party, and attempts to bring the people together in a common cause.”

We also cautioned our leaders not to “listen to the usually small-minded tribalists who are justifying the prime minister’s not meeting with the Opposition leader on the basis that Mr Holness’s feelings were hurt by being vilified by Mr Golding during the election campaign”.

“Once the election is over, it is time to put the nation above party or personal feelings… leaders have to show examples of mental fortitude, a thick skin, and a broad back in a profession like politics, which is nothing short of a blood sport.”

Since this editorial, Prime Minister Holness has reiterated his directive to Mr Golding to meet with Mr Chuck suggesting, however, that it would be a preliminary meeting, prior to a Vale Royal summit at which, presumably, the two leaders would sit together.

We in this space believe that while this a step forward by the prime minister, an exchange of letters in the public space is unseemly, and that a telephone call or a courtesy call between the two leaders, possibly followed by a joint statement on the way forward, is a more tidy and wholesome way of handling the matter.

The Opposition leader might also wish to consider resuming his original position, prior to introducing the CCJ as an all-or-nothing issue. The CCJ, specifically its appellate jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters, has been under discussion for decades and shouldn’t be used to block the transition to republic status.

Of course, leading Jamaica to become a republic is a political prize of the ages. But it is an accident of political timing that the JLP is in power at this hour, on an issue that the PNP has long championed. Can Mr Golding get over this?

And is it too much to ask Mr Holness to pick up the phone and seek consensus as much as is humanly possible?