–  new challenges also for Manning
Analysis
WELL, consistent with the mood of defiance as exhibited at Sunday’s special meeting of his Jamaica Labour Party’s power-wielding Central Executive, Mr Bruce Golding has scuttled any idea of his resignation as Prime Minister  and remains to battle on towards  a new general election – due by September 2012.

In a brief comment following the Central Executive meeting,  he was reported as saying – contrary to mounting expectations – that he and his party had concluded there was “no need for resignation”.

By Monday evening, he was telling Jamaicans, still truamatised by his confession of having earlier told an “untruth”, that he was “sorry” and needed their “forgiveness”.

His ‘untruth’ (a word of current usage in opposition election politics against Prime Minister Patrick Manning in Trinidad and Tobago), had flowed from Golding’s personal role to delay – if not altogether prevent – the extradition to the USA of the famed alleged drug ‘kingpin’ – Christopher (‘Dudus’) Coke.

Now, while finally deciding to give the ‘go ahead’ for necessary legal arrangements to begin the Coke extradition process, Golding’s confessed ‘untruth’ could well haunt him as he struggles to redeem his reputation as head of government in a country mired in criminal blood-letting and most depressing social and economic woes.
Golding’s mea culpa,  in a national broadcast, should have been expected, as he has been agonising for more than a week whether or not to resign and make way for one of his top cabinet colleagues to take charge of the government.
Personal political credibility may mean a lot for the leader of a government, or even a cabinet minister in Britain’s House of Commons. So, once found to have told an “untruth” to the nation, in or out of parliament, resignation is expected.

DIFFERENT CULTURE
Unhappily, this is not the political culture in our Caribbean Community, and the sad ‘truth’ is: Mr Golding happens to have company among government leaders within our Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Nor is it the political culture of governance in what prides itself as the world’s greatest democracy–United States of America. Ask former President Bill Clinton — and think of the Monica Lewinsky case.
Ask ex-President George Walker Bush and recall his piously – offered rationale for invading Iraq, in collaboration with that former eloquent British Prime Minister of ‘smart politics’  -Tony Blair.
Jamaica’s two leading newspapers, ‘Gleaner’ and ‘Observer’, having reported on Golding’s decision to remain as Prime Minister, had their own editorial assessments:
Contending that there is no shame in his saying “sorry” (headline of a lead story), the Observer, nevertheless, editorialised:
“…Mr Golding had at least one more chance to redeem himself and we are encouraged by the fact that he recognised that and offered a full apology to the country in his national broadcast last night…”
For its part, the  ‘Gleaner’, which titled its lead story on Golding’s broadcast, ‘Forgive Me’, noted that Jamaica stood in great need of  “strong, sure leadership that has the trust of the people….
“To begin to win the trust of the people” it added, “Mr Golding must disentangle himself and his party from the Coke affair. He must end the legal sophistry and instruct his Attorney General and Justice Minister to sign the extradition order for Mr Coke who the Americans want to put on trial for alleged narco-trafficking and gun-running.”

T&T SCENARIO
Such reportings and comments by the Jamaica media can well resonate with the people of Trinidad and Tobago where allegations persist of malpractices and falsehood in relation to the operations of the Urban Development Corporation (UDECOTT) and with increasing focus on misuse of state funds on the construction in progress of the equally controversial “Church of the Lighthouse of our Lord  Jesus Christ.”
As the election  campaign intensifies and allegations and denials soar with five days to go for voting on May 24, Prime Minister Manning is now coming under pressure for abuse of his powers in “commandeering the airwaves” (to quote yesterday’s Express editorial) to spread a glowing picture of performance by his PNM administration.
Truth is that such is the nature of the beast in electioneering politics where ruling parties are concerned – from Jamaica in the northern sub-region to Guyana and Suriname on the South American mainland, and right across the Eastern Caribbean, as well as Belize in Central America.
Governing parties, which normally make effective use of the electronic media, particularly those that are state-owned, are even more brazen in such a practice during national elections.
This, of course, does not mean that the claimed media abuses of Mr Manning should be ignored. Nor should the privately-owned media overlook their own shortcomings in providing balanced coverage.
For now, while Mr Golding desperately seeks to ‘redeem’ himself in the eyes of the Jamaican people, here in Trinidad and Tobago Mr Manning’s own manoeuvres to “clear the air” on corruption allegations and abuse of state power, could be interpreted as revealing diminishing confidence in his PNM retaining the victory edge next Monday. We shall see.