Trafigura forced election delay, says US Embassy cable

It appears that the Trafigura controversy in late 2006 forced then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to delay calling a general election for almost a year.

According to information in a diplomatic cable from the United States Embassy in Kingston, accessed by The Gleaner through the international whistle-blowing entity WikiLeaks, Simpson Miller seemed set to go to the polls in November 2006 when her popularity was at a record high.

But with the fallout from what was dubbed the 'Trafigura scandal', the decision to call the election was delayed.

The US diplomatic cable, dated May 2007, quotes former Director of Elections Danville Walker as saying that he expected the general election late 2006 based on communications with the Office of the Prime Minister.

"Walker revealed that he believed elections were originally scheduled for November 2006," emphasised the cable.

According to the cable: "In August 2006, the prime minister's office contacted him (Walker) to ask about the amount of time the Electoral Office of Jamaica would need to prepare for election."

simpson miller upset

The cable further reported Walker as saying that Simpson Miller was upset when she was told that the Electoral Office needed 90 days to ramp up for a general election.

"Nonetheless, the (Electoral Office) began hiring and training people for an election Walker believed would occur in early November," said the cable.

But weeks after the prime minister sought the timeline guidance from the Electoral Office, the party found itself faced with the Trafigura controversy which led to the resignation of one minister (Colin Campbell), threatened to bring down the entire Government and forced Simpson Miller to fight off a no-confidence motion.

The controversy started when then Leader of the Opposition Bruce Golding walked out of Parliament and convened a press conference to reveal what he called "the mother of all scandals". It involved the transfer of $31 million to an account belonging to Campbell, the then information minister and general secretary of the PNP, from Dutch firm Trafigura Beheer.

Trafigura, which had been contracted to lift oil in Nigeria on Jamaica's behalf, said the money was in relation to a commercial arrangement even while the PNP said it was a donation.

With public outrage being stoked by the JLP, Simpson Miller retreated and months later announced the elections for August 27, 2007.

Hurricane Dean forced a postponement of the elections as it brought major damage to several sections of the island.

When the elections were eventually held in September 2007, the JLP won 32 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives to form the Government.

It was widely argued that the PNP paid the price for Trafigura and other corruption allegations it faced in the 18 years it held state power, but many critics of Simpson Miller also charged that she took too long to go to the polls.