Burke... a major power broker.
Garwin Davis, Assistant News Editor
MY SOURCES within the People's National Party (PNP) have confirmed what I have been suspecting since last week: Paul Burke, the former chairman of the party's Region Three, has given up on his ambition to succeed P.J. Patterson as president of the PNP.
Instead, Mr. Burke, will now be focusing his full attention on next Saturday's vice-presidential race where he hopes to unseat either Portia Simpson Miller, Dr. Paul Robertson, Dr. Peter Phillips or Dr. Karl Blythe, to take his place as one of Mr. Patterson's four deputies. Or so it seems.
But why the sudden change of heart? Should we now believe that Mr. Burke has suddenly realised that his candidacy was a joke taken too far and that the best thing to do was to fold tent and exit the race?
Unless you are Paul Burke, one can never know for sure what the true motive is. However, as a betting man, I can't help but to go with my guts into believing that there is more to this than what the naked eye can see.
Mr. Burke stole the headlines last week by almost bringing the PNP's annual conference to a standstill by his 11th-hour candidacy for vice president. Frankly, I am surprised that all the stories have been about Mr. Burke and his flair for the dramatics and not a single line on the possibility of an ulterior motive at work.
CAREFULLY-ORCHESTRATED PLOT
I am convinced so too are a number of persons that I have spoken to within the PNP rank and file that what happened last week was no coincidence but a carefully-orchestrated plot that almost worked.
Mr. Burke's candidacy had nothing to do with him wanting to sit at the seat of Mr. Patterson far from that. The real motivation was to test the waters as it relates to strength in numbers amongst party delegates, not for Mr. Burke, but for Portia Simpson Miller, Dr. Peter Phillips and Dr. Karl Blythe. Why?
PATTERSON'S INTERVENTION
They are the three vice-presidents to have expressed an interest in wanting to succeed Mr. Patterson as party leader and prime minister. The other vice-president, Dr. Paul Robertson is not a contender for leadership.
Had it not been for the shrewd intervention of Mr. Patterson, there would have had to be a vote to decide on the four vice-presidents and I daresay the newspaper headlines would have been different.
You see, Mr. Burke, even if he had been elected as one of the four vice-presidents, would have been only a sideshow. The real news would have been which candidate garnered the most delegate votes, and in the case of the perceived front-runners, Dr. Phillips or Mrs. Simpson Miller, it would be a telling indicator as to who has the inside track to succeed Mr. Patterson.
But the real question is: Who had the most to gain in wanting to see the delegates vote? And if we want to go further, considering that, from all accounts, no one, not even the PNP secretariat, was prepared for an election, who would have secured the most votes had the delegates voted?
CANNOT BE IGNORED
I have my suspicions, but as a practising journalist, I am wary of how far that can take me. What I can say though, is that now that Mr. Burke is out of the race for party president, the delegates he had in his corner are not only up for grabs, but in the event of a close race, could ultimately decide who the next prime minister of Jamaica will be. Mr. Burke, by all intents and purposes, has now become a major power broker and from now on, he simply cannot be ignored, and this happened all in the space of one week. I was privileged to be at an off-the-record private luncheon with him several months ago in Ocho Rios and without betraying my oath of confidentiality, I can say that I have a pretty good idea where those delegate votes will be going.
Look for Mr. Burke to throw his full support behind the candidacy of one of the leading contenders very soon, and maybe, just about maybe, pull off what could then be described as the coup of the century.
In the meantime, sit tight and wait for that show-of-strength vote by the delegates next Saturday, where, from all indications, with all the bleeding contenders having had the extra two weeks to campaign, the country should have a pretty good idea who the next prime minister will be. Just remember, though, to say where you heard it first.
