The Editor, Sir:

Mr Golding was bold and emphatic in his appearance on BBC's Hardtalk, and Jamaicans love that kind of performance. What disappointed was that he bowed to public opinion, that he was led, rather than was a leader.

Mr Golding says that "privacy must be respected" but then chooses his Cabinet, public officers, precisely on what someone does in privacy. Mr Golding appears to believe that support for gay behaviour is a foreign thing when in fact, proportionately, it is just as Jamaican as our machismo. Instead of offering arguments, Mr Golding resorted to personal preference, dodging the hard questions. Acceptance of different lifestyles is growing, he says, yet it is the current non-acceptance he adopts.

Enough table-slappers

We should not have been surprised. Mr Golding has already shown his hand on hanging and there are enough table-slappers around for the vote to go his way. Other instances of the bow to public opinion could be cited.

Which is not to say that I see no positive leadership from Mr Golding in other matters. He has much to offer this country, but I would counsel that following public opinion is a dangerous path. It is the recourse of weakness. It was the ability to listen to the common view of His day and convincingly, time after time, offer the exact opposite - and take the consequences - that made Jesus the remarkable leader he truly was. And even politicians can emulate.

I am, etc.,

HORACE LEVY

jenhal@cwjamaica.com