George Davis | The resurrection of Basil Waite

There is no such thing in life as a permanent political enemy. The bitterest of foes, fiercest of rivals, spaced across party lines or split within the same party, almost always find unity and sameness of purpose whenever the politics demands that expediency trumps hard feelings.

Basil Waite's return to the forefront of the PNP, after a long wait, proves this argument. Waite's recent win over Everton Fisher in the battle to represent Joshua's party in North East St Elizabeth at the next general election moves him one step closer to regaining the national prominence he enjoyed between September 2007 and late 2011. And though he has not yet faced the electorate at a general election, let alone assume a seat in the House of Representatives, Basil Waite's rebirth is already a success story.

In real terms, Basil should not be here. Not after the mistakes he has made, the people he has criticised, or the misfortune that has befallen him. The opposition leader, Dr Peter Phillips, could easily have told his soldiers he had no use for Basil and blocked his path to the post of party deputy general secretary in 2017.

Many who believe grudges should be taken to the grave would expect Dr Phillips to never forget what Basil said about him in US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in 2008. Speaking to high-ranking US Embassy staff about the leadership race between Dr Phillips and Mama Portia, Basil, a strong Portia ally, is quoted and referenced in this extract from the cable: "Prominent PNP Senator Basil Waite, in a private meeting with pol off on August 18, reconfirmed his support for Simpson Miller. He maintained that the challenge to her leadership had been launched 'unfairly', dividing the party when the PNP "needs to be a part of the national discussion, not infighting."

Waite's quality

Waite objected to Phillips' "hypocrisy" in criticising the PNP's recent policies, noting that Phillips himself had been a member of the steering committee that had drafted the party's manifesto."

For many, those comments would never have been forgiven. But Dr Phillips knows that he needs all the quality help he can get in his bid to return the PNP to government. He knows that those comments, made 11 years ago by a man who was then 32 years old, are, in a purely political context, irrelevant. And Dr Phillips also knows that despite what I will call a lost decade in his life, Basil Waite represents the kind of quality he will need more of if he's to realise his lifelong ambition of sitting at Jamaica House as an 'own-mandate' prime minister.

Basil Waite was once seen as the PNP's brightest youngster. The late Donald Buchanan used to brag about Waite being away at Harvard, preparing to return to serve the party and country. Basil's future was bright then. It was bright when, as a senator, he was appointed shadow minister of education.

It was not so bright one evening when, in an interview about the funding of tertiary education, he told me and Cliff Hughes on Nationwide@5 that education was not a public good. Cliff and I looked at each other with incredulity, and, try as we did, we couldn't get Basil to admit that he either did not know what a public good was or that he had forgotten the definition.

I forgave him for that bad error largely because I wanted to believe in him and the promise he held as a leader. From what I hear from those who know him well, the passage of time has been good to Basil Waite.

He was the future once, but now at 42, he's no longer an apprentice. He's the kind of guy the country needs in a leadership role, and I'm happy to see him almost complete his comeback.

Selah.

- George Davis is a broadcast executive producer and talk-show host. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and george.s.davis@hotmail.com.