THE EDITOR, Sir:
AT THE end of his political career, an older and wiser man, former Prime Minister, the late Michael Manley, expressed profound regret for his presence as chief mourner at the funeral of "Burry Boy", a man who, not to put too fine a point on it, had an unsavoury reputation. It may well have been open to Mr. Manley, to make the fatuous argument that he knew of no crime of which "Burro Boy" was convicted.
Showing the grace that had often been a hallmark of his political career, Mr. Manley refused to engage in such sophistry. Instead, he took responsibility for the fact that his presence on such an occasion sent the wrong signal.
Edward Seaga, a former Prime Minster and now Prime Minister-in-waiting has never made an apology for leading the procession at the late Jim Brown's (also a man of questionable reputation) funeral. Indeed, confronted by a journalist on the issue, Mr. Seaga, with barely restrained menace, proceeded to lionise Mr. Brown as a community protector. Mind you, Mr. Brown at the time of his death was not a convicted felon.
After all, on every occasion on which he was brought before the courts, he had walked free, once to the salute of guns in the precinct of the Supreme Court. An occurrence with which the Member of Parliament was to subsequently demonstrate his mild displeasure by staying away from a birthday party planned in his honour.
Prime Minister P.J. Patter-son for his part could hardly have been listed as having dons among his list of friends until the aftermath of the 1999 gas riots. His visit to see Donald "Zekes" Phipps immediately after those riots understandably raised eyebrows in many quarters. To those prepared to pass over his action as a mere lapse in political judgement, the defiance evidenced in his response to subsequent questions on the issue, put paid to such a conclusion.
Mr. Patterson, after trotting out the rather fatuous argument that Mr. Zekes has just been cleared in a court of law proceeded with uncharacteristic chutzpah to challenge his media audience to tell him what was wrong with his action.
Mr. Zekes it must be remembered is a man of no mean influence. Only one year before the Prime Minister's spirited defence of him, his tremendous influence was on display with the virtual lockdown of downtown Kingston. At the time, constituted authority in a disgraceful show of helplessness had to summon his presence to quiet the mutinous masses.
In the April gas riots, however, Mr. Zekes's influence was apparently directed in the opposite direction: He was keeping the masses off the street. It was this latter role that occasioned the Prime Minister's visit, purportedly to thank him. Perhaps Mr. Patterson sincerely believed that the means by which Mr. Zekes holds sway over downtown Kingston is that he is such a nice fellow that no one wanted to earn his ire by taking to the street to demonstrate.
Dr. Omar Davies has apparently learnt well from his political forbears. He after all, is proud to list among his friends, "Willie Haggart" Moore, also a reputed don. Furthermore, he has no apology for attending his funeral and for eulogising him as the authority to which he turned to achieve peace in his constituency. That Dr. Davies, a man who to the cheer of many of us, declared at the height of the financial sector crisis "I travel lightly, my integrity in one hand and my academic qualification in the other", should feel obliged to take this position and make these utterances is a tragedy. But as Bruce Golding, who knows a thing or two about such matters has said, "he had no choice". The least he could have done, however, is to spare us the hubris on this occasion.
I am, etc.,
A.E. HEWITT
E-mail: ansord1@yahoo.com
Kingston 19
Via Go-Jamaica
