A new wave of speculation has surfaced among supporters and non-supporters of the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), that former party leader and Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, who resigned suddenly in October 2011, could be seeking to regain leadership of the party.

The possibility of Golding's return seems beyond speculation for some who are willing to actively see him come back to the party, as they believe his political skills are needed. A female supporter in Western Jamaica said, "We need Bruce to make the party retake power in Jamaica again." This supporter who had been severely critical of Golding over his handling of the circumstances related to the U.S. request for the extradition of drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke, said, "We have to live and forgive. Bruce has paid some serious dues, but he had a good understanding and substantive plans to develop the economy. Really, we need Bruce back to offer stronger opposition to the Peoples National Party (PNP) government, and lead the JLP back to power."

Golding, who was silent for several months after his resignation, has recently become more vocal especially in comments pertaining to the government's recent National Debt Exchange (NDX) program. He voiced his opinion that a possible International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement by March 31 is unlikely.

A prominent Kingston businessman says he is "passed frustrated, but becoming increasingly confused" with the possibilities of a Jamaica/International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement. Since last week several other Jamaican business people and ordinary citizens have echoed this opinion.

Just a few weeks ago the government and the IMF announced that the two parties had reached a staff agreement for an extended fund facility of US$750 million from the fund, but final approval of this agreement needed to be given by the fund's executive board of management. The end of March was estimated as the date for the pending approval.

Prior to this, the Jamaican government in attempting to meet prior conditions set by the IMF, announced a debt exchange program where the interests owed investors in government bonds were marginally reduced in order to reduce government debt by $860 billion. There was also a rather surprising new $16 billion tax package. They also successfully negotiated a wage freeze with the Jamaican public sector.

Just when all seemed in place for the approval of the agreement by the IMF board, last week Jamaican Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips told Parliament that Jamaica still hasn't submitted its program to the IMF for approval. He offered the delay was because contingent talks between the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, that have a direct relationship to the government's liability management or debt program are still ongoing. These talks will determine the extent of the financial commitments of each institution in support of Jamaica's extended fund program.

Last week there were serious concerns within the government of Turks and Caicos and the Progressive National Party (PNP) led by Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing that it could be removed from office if it lost its eight to seven majority from the results of a crucial by-election held in the Cheshire Hall/Richmond Hill constituency. However, the PNP's Amanda Missick retained her seat to secure the government's tenure in office.
The PNP won the November 9, 2012 general election by one seat, but for the second time in just over four months Missick had to face a contest against the People Democratic Movement (PDM) Oral Selver Missick who she defeated in November by 30 votes. However, the seat was declared null and void by TCI High Court Judge Madame Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale who ruled that the cotes received by Dr. Edward Smith of the People Progressive Party (PPP), interfered with the outcome of the election result. In February the high court declared the constituency vacant and also declared Smith wasn't eligible to contest the November 9 election as he was a U.S. citizen.
The constituency was declared vacant by the court in February, after losing PDM candidate Oral Selver, claimed that Dr. Edward Smith of the People Progressive Party's (PPP), did not relinquish his United States citizenship that would make him eligible to contest the seat.
The concerns over a government crisis in the TCI were alleviated when Missick regained her seat with an increased majority of 71 votes.
Missick was almost disqualified from contesting the by-election as a lawsuit was filed against her for filing her declaration to contest the seat late. However, Chief Justice Edwin Goldsbrough ruled in favor of her eligibility.

Operations Chief of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Vince Callender, said Jamaica was way ahead of the United States authorities in addressing the problem of "876 Scam Phone Fraud," otherwise known as the Jamaican Lotto Scam.
Callender was among individuals who testified on March 13 before a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Ageing about the lotto scam which targets mostly seniors living in the U.S. He said the U.S. should look at what the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) is doing to stamp out the crime, as the measures that they had implemented to deal with the scam and other forms of fraud was were ahead of what the U.S. government had in place.

The ICE officer said there has been continuous and unprecedented cooperation from the Jamaican government concerning the issue. He said the GOJ must be commended for its recent move to enact new laws to facilitate the investigation, prosecution and conviction of scammers, and he expects these new laws to be enforced by the end of March. This will assist the law enforcement efforts in the U.S. to be more effective. He pointed out the U.S. government must do its part in curtailing the crime in the country.
Callender told the special committee that in 2009, ICE had entered into an agreement with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to form the Jamaica Operations Link to Telemarketing Taskforce (JOLTT) to focus on identifying, disrupting and dismantling organizations perpetrating Jamaican based telemarketing fraud.