Dear Editor,

The extradition issue with Christopher “Dudus” Coke is an embarrassment to the prime minister and to every well-thinking Jamaican.

Mr Golding should tell the people of this country if people have been extradited in the past based on evidence compiled under the same circumstances as Mr Coke’s evidence, and if so, what’s the difference between those requests which were signed and the request for Coke which has thus far been denied?

When he comes clean with that answer, then the reasons for the Americans’ shock at this request having been handled so differently will be fully understood.

Let us assume that Dudus will not be extradited. Shouldn’t our prime minister – at a time when fighting crime is supposedly “top priority” – appear a bit more concerned that the alleged evidence shows that a major world-renowned criminal resides, and is so influential, within his constituency?

Mr Golding, we expected far better from you. We believed when you said you were turning your back on “garrison-style politics”. We believed when you said you stood for less power in the hands of politicians, not more. What happened to your “promises”? If anything, your stance, as much as you say it’s based on principle alone, shows that in Jamaica the “president” wields far more power than the prime minister!

Richard Stewart

stewedpeas@yahoo.com