Prime Minister Bruce Golding said that he met Christopher "Dudus" Coke in the Tivoli Gardens slum in West Kingston after his candidacy was backed by a local executive board headed by Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie.
"I didn't enter (Tivoli Gardens) until the constituency executive had voted to support my candidacy," said Golding, who won a landslide election in April 2005 to represent the district.
Golding's testimony came at hearings before a special commission investigating the government's handling of a U.S. extradition request for Coke, an alleged gangster with close ties to the island's ruling Jamaica Labor Party.
For nine months, Golding denied the request, arguing that U.S. investigators had used wiretaps in violation of Jamaican law.
When he finally backed down in May, Jamaican police launched a hunt for Coke in Tivoli Gardens, battling neighbors who barricaded the slum's entrances in a confrontation that left at least 73 civilians and three security officers dead. It was one of the bloodiest episodes in the island's recent history.
The standoff highlighted the lingering affiliations between gangs and Jamaica's two major political parties, which have long relied on "community dons" in populous slums to help produce votes.
Political observers say Golding could not have been elected to his parliament seat without the support of the influential don of Tivoli Gardens, which has a long-standing reputation as a vote-rich stronghold for the Jamaica Labor Party.
At the close of Thursday's hearing, cross examiner Patrick Atkinson asked Golding if he needed Coke's endorsement before he could run. Golding emphatically replied no.
"But he exerted considerable influence in the community?" Atkinson said.
"I've already said so," Golding replied, pointing out that similar slum leaders were allied to the opposition People's National Party. "Coke may be considered as the most significant of the lot but he's no different in kind and in quality to several others."
Earlier in the afternoon, Golding announced he would refuse to answer more questions from a second cross examiner, opposition lawyer K.D. Knight. Golding claimed Knight was only interested in scoring political points and was turning the hearings into a charade.
Knight has at times shouted out accusations that Golding was "corrupt" and "deceptive."
Lawyers from both sides have repeatedly urged the chairman presiding over the proceedings to control participants' conduct but he has largely ignored their appeals.
