Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding to Step Down

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is stepping down. He will not seek reelection to lead the Jamaica National Party at the November annual conference and will step down as soon as a new leader has been elected. The Hinterland Gazette had issued a call to PM Bruce Golding to step down last May once the news had surfaced he sanctioned a U.S. law firm to lobby on extradition matters for Christopher "Dudus" Coke.

In a statement from the JLP this afternoon through Information Minister Daryl Vaz, the party said Golding conveyed this decision to the party's Central Executive at its quarterly meeting held at Belmont Road today.

“Golding said he had planned to lead the party into a second term of government and demit office within two years thereafter. He said the challenges of the last four years have taken their toll and it was appropriate now to make way for new leadership to continue the programmes of economic recovery and transformation while mobilising the party for victory in the next general elections,” the statement said. 

The drama with Dudus has finally taken a toll. This is a sad end to a long career in public service. He won't be remembered for the good he did. He will be remembered for going to bat for a reputed drug don, Christopher "Dudus" Coke. The problem Jamaica now faces is that there is no one remotely qualified in the People's National Party to step up to the plate and become the next prime minister if general elections were held shortly after Golding's resignation becomes effective. Portia Simpson-Miller is a hood-rat who has no class, is unprofessional and just down-right unqualified to lead the country a second time around. It's time for a complete change in Jamaican politics -- no more establishment people. New faces and new voices.