Change without chaos - Selecting a new prime minister

I am submitting this section from my biography, 'My Life and Leadership: Volume I', pages 160-163 - a model used by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to select a new prime minister in the mid-term period.

The JLP, under Donald Sangster's leadership, won the general election of February 21 with 33 seats for the JLP and 21 for the PNP. Sangster was appointed as prime minister by Governor General Sir Clifford Campbell. He was also minister of finance.

It was Sangster's custom to retire to Newcastle, the 3,000-foot elevation of the mountain camp of the Jamaica Defence Force above Kingston, to prepare his Budget presentation in seclusion. On this occasion, tragedy struck. On March 18, 1967, he developed a brain haemorrhage and had to be flown by helicopter to Vale Royal, the official residence of the prime minister, for an urgent examination. Two days later, he was flown to Canada for urgent medical treatment.
On the afternoon before he departed, he sent for me. I found him in bed with a nurse in attendance. He appeared to be very weak. In one sentence, he said exactly why he called me to see him: "I want you to present the Budget as I am going to Canada for medical attention." The annual presentation of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure was due in one month.

I was pleasantly surprised. I took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry; I will look after things until you get back," I told him comfortingly. I never saw him alive again. He died on April 12, four days after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and two months after he became prime minister. He was 55 years old.

Jamaica mourned the loss of Sir Donald Sangster. He was buried in Heroes Park in a state funeral attended by thousands. In gratitude for his service as minister of finance, the $100 bill, the highest denomination at the time, carried his photograph when the currency was decimalised in 1969, and the Montego Bay Airport was named the Sir Donald Sangster International Airport.

As a precaution, the JLP summoned all its members of parliament on April 5 to hold an urgent selection of a successor to the then ailing prime minister in the expectation from medical reports that he would succumb to his serious condition.

GG's role

In the Westminster system of government, the prime minister is selected by the elected members of the party which forms the majority in the House of Representatives. The Constitution requires the governor general to act on the advice of the elected members of the majority party in proceeding to make the appointment. The governor general does not consult with the elected member, individually or collectively. The members take their decision as the body representing the majority side to inform the governor general of their decision.

Different procedures are followed by the parties as to the process by which they come to their decision. In the JLP, with no precedent for guidance, it was decided to hold a caucus of the MPs to elect from among themselves the member to be recommended to the governor general. The rationale was that the prime minister had to enjoy the confidence of the members on the majority side of the House, hence it was their vote that was important.

Sir Clifford, however, pre-empted the role of the members of parliament, perhaps out of ignorance as to what procedure should be used, by conferring with each of the members. I was the last to be seen by him.

The purpose of the consultation, he advised, was to hear my view as to who should be selected as the member to be appointed as prime minister. But the governor general, before putting his question, advised me that he had seen the other MPs and the majority had agreed to support Bob Lightbourne and he proposed to act accordingly. I advised Sir Clifford that I would not support Lightbourne. I was aware that a caucus would be held soon of JLP MPs to name their choice. I was aware, too, that Lightbourne would not be selected as the member to be referred to the governor general, as he was weak in his political links to the members and delegates and held a low rating as being erratic and confused in his manner of administration ... .

I was aware also that if the governor general proceeded to name Bob Lightbourne, he would have fulfilled his constitutional requirement of consultation, as the Constitution does not require the JLP members to meet. A constitutional crisis could occur. Further, there was more than a suspicion that the governor general wished to name Lightbourne, as this was the choice of the money interests who had been lobbying him.

All these concerns spelt the possibility of an embarrassment to the JLP. I decided to advise Clem Tavares, who was one of the three candidates, Hugh Shearer being the third. Tavares took their decision to alert the press by leaking the governor general's intention. This was publicised and brought an end to the attempted pre-emption by the governor general, who had to deny any such intervention.

negating pre-emption

With the possibility of pre-emption out of the way, the caucus of MPs was called. The MPs met at the headquarters of the JLP at Retirement Road in the Cross Roads area of the city. Of the 33 members, 31 were present, the absentees being Donald Sangster and Elleston Wakeland, both hospitalised. It was decided to have a first ballot to eliminate one of the three contenders: Shearer, Tavares or Lightbourne. The result was Tavares 12, Shearer 10, Lightbourne 8. A disappointed Bob Lightbourne went to the phone immediately where he was overheard reporting, "We have lost."

The second ballot produced a squeaky win by one vote: Shearer 16, Tavares 15. Shearer's win was so close that overnight there was talk of finding a way to reverse the vote. A visit was made to the bedside of Wakeland to solicit his support for Tavares. A tie would then have resulted. However, that would have no legal bearing as the vote was already taken. But it was indicative of the feeling of desperation felt in the Tavares camp.

I was approached to join in a protest to seek a fresh ballot, including Wakeland's. Although I voted for Tavares, who was my closest colleague in the JLP, on both the first and second ballots, I would not give my support to any attempt to challenge the selection. I cautioned that Shearer had won and we should all rally behind him. Shearer, at any rate, would have been Bustamante's choice, and he would have the support of the BITU. To try to reverse the poll would have split the party down the middle and jeopardised its future.

Tavares was never the same after the loss, much like Norman Manley after his loss to Bustamante in 1962. The intensity of his disappointment began to affect his health. He died from a heart condition on January 19, 1968.

Edward Seaga is a former prime minister. He is now chancellor of the University of Technology and a distinguished fellow at the UWI. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and odf@uwimona.com.