When Prime Minister Bruce Golding was leader of the National Democratic Movement, the political party he founded and later left, there used to be a running joke in media circles about him.
If the weatherman was off without warning, people would say, no problem, call Mr Golding.
That joke was meant to poke a bit of harmless fun at Mr Golding's willingness, or so it seemed, to speak on almost any issue, which he usually did with great erudition and skill. And he probably helped a news editor or two out of a spot of bother.
As the leader of the third party, Mr Golding was, and needed to be, more readily available than the leaders of the other two, the Jamaica Labour Party, which the prime minister now heads, and the People's National Party.
We were reminded of the 'Mr Golding the Weatherman' story because of the 'summit' the PM arranged yesterday with dancehall artistes Adidja Palmer and David Brooks.
Crudity, gangsterism, violence
The former performs under the name Vybz Kartel, while the latter calls himself Mavado. Both are talented but often purvey to their audiences lyrics of misogynistic crudity and a call to gangsterism and violence.
Both have large followings. Kartel's group is known collectively as the Gaza group, a reference to a section of Waterford, Portmore, St Catherine, where he originated, which itself was named for that narrow strip of the Palestinian territory that has for decades known intense warfare in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Mavado's fans are the Gully crew. He grew up in an area of St Andrew comprising mostly informal settlements bordering a paved watercourse, or gully.
Kartel and Mavado have long maintained a fierce lyrical rivalry from the stage and in media interviews, and this intensity hardly appears contrived despite their occasional declarations it is merely art and entertainment. Indeed, their fans clearly do not agree.
They have fought and injured each other in the Gaza-Gully conflict although, fortunately, no one has yet been killed.
Until recently, Kartel, the more naturally articulate of the two, claimed, disingenuously, that he could not be held responsible for the behaviour of misguided fans. More recently, he has been less vehement in that position.
PM concerned
Understandably, Prime Minister Golding is among the many people in Jamaica concerned about the violence of the Gaza-Gully phenomenon and has spoken publicly about it. We are surprised, however, that the PM would allow himself to be part of a peace-brokering summit between the two men, or to even have such a negotiation take place under his auspices, let alone in his presence.
The office of prime minister carries high prestige, part of which comes from the sheer weight of the constitutional power and the sense of mystique that goes with the job. Prime ministers have to be careful how they spread themselves around, lest they diminish the potency of the office and the title.
This is one case in which Mr Golding's handlers should have advised him to be circumspect. Kartel and other hard-core dancehall deejays have been engaged in many initiatives in which they promised to tone down their lyrical crudity or refrain from behaviour that might incite violence. It usually doesn't last.
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