Tweet
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Post-election Cabinet - who will be the chosen few?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Whither Maxine Henry-Wilson, Omar Davies, Pearnel Charles, Shahine Robinson, Ed Bartlett?</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Sunday, January 14, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>The following article was edited and reprinted from John Jackson's Investor's Choice, Jamaica's leading business and finance magazine.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It is hard to find a seasoned political observer who will not agree that, in many respects, Jamaica is now in uncharted waters. The bitter wounds from the People's National Party (PNP) presidential race last year have exposed a seriously fractured PNP that has been reeling from one scandal after another, with the 'Trafigura' bombshell further revealing the muddiness of the party's internal affairs.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On the other hand, Bruce Golding, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has adeptly united his party after an equally bitter presidential campaign over a year-and-a-half ago by selecting former leadership competitors, neutralising less co-operative detractors and re-channeling the energies of the strident young 'reformists'. Now he is making it known on the political stage that he and his party are ready to rule.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For both contenders, Golding and the PNP's Portia Simpson Miller, the outcome of the general election is of critical importance to their political future. For Simpson Miller, a win would mean more than the mere obtaining of 'her own mandate'. A nod from electors would allow her the opportunity to pick her own team and either neutralise or co-opt the support of the detractors in her midst.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A win for Golding would symbolise more than his political coming of age with the final dissipation of Edward Seaga's shadow over the Labour Party. It would also signify an endorsement or mandate from the Jamaican people, which now seems more likely, with the October poll findings revealing for the first time since he became leader last April, the emergence of a "positive momentum" in his favour, contrasting with a 'negative momentum' for Simpson Miller for the first time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Cabinet size<P class=StoryText align=justify>There are those who have already gone past the outcome of the upcoming elections to the new prime minister's first task of hand-picking a Cabinet. On this score, it is easier to speculate on how Golding would exercise his judgement.
The first issue to determine is the matter of size. The number of ministers in a Golding-led Cabinet would, in all likelihood, be restricted to 12 or 13, say JLP insiders. Their calculations are based on an oft-repeated guideline of their leader - that the size of his Cabinet would not exceed one-third the number of the winning seats. The party, they boast, is on a trajectory to capture at least 39 seats.<P class=StoryText align=justify>However, insiders are less forthcoming about the rationale behind the guideline or that pertaining to the number of junior ministers likely to be appointed. Those claiming to be in the know insist that the complement of ministers would be restricted to eight.
The Simpson Miller Cabinet is comprised of 13 ministers, in addition to the prime minister. There are also 11 junior ministers.<P class=StoryText align=justify>There is far less speculation as to the size and composition of a Simpson Miller post-election Cabinet. Insiders say it is nigh impossible to make any meaningful predictions, save and except for their certain belief that a reconfigured Cabinet would, of necessity, include a significant number of the 'Solid as a Rock' and 'Campaign for Prosperity' stalwarts who currently make up its numbers.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Whereas uncertainty swirls around which Simpson Miller loyalists will win their seats, there is ver
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Whither Maxine Henry-Wilson, Omar Davies, Pearnel Charles, Shahine Robinson, Ed Bartlett?</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Sunday, January 14, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>The following article was edited and reprinted from John Jackson's Investor's Choice, Jamaica's leading business and finance magazine.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It is hard to find a seasoned political observer who will not agree that, in many respects, Jamaica is now in uncharted waters. The bitter wounds from the People's National Party (PNP) presidential race last year have exposed a seriously fractured PNP that has been reeling from one scandal after another, with the 'Trafigura' bombshell further revealing the muddiness of the party's internal affairs.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On the other hand, Bruce Golding, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has adeptly united his party after an equally bitter presidential campaign over a year-and-a-half ago by selecting former leadership competitors, neutralising less co-operative detractors and re-channeling the energies of the strident young 'reformists'. Now he is making it known on the political stage that he and his party are ready to rule.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For both contenders, Golding and the PNP's Portia Simpson Miller, the outcome of the general election is of critical importance to their political future. For Simpson Miller, a win would mean more than the mere obtaining of 'her own mandate'. A nod from electors would allow her the opportunity to pick her own team and either neutralise or co-opt the support of the detractors in her midst.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A win for Golding would symbolise more than his political coming of age with the final dissipation of Edward Seaga's shadow over the Labour Party. It would also signify an endorsement or mandate from the Jamaican people, which now seems more likely, with the October poll findings revealing for the first time since he became leader last April, the emergence of a "positive momentum" in his favour, contrasting with a 'negative momentum' for Simpson Miller for the first time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Cabinet size<P class=StoryText align=justify>There are those who have already gone past the outcome of the upcoming elections to the new prime minister's first task of hand-picking a Cabinet. On this score, it is easier to speculate on how Golding would exercise his judgement.
The first issue to determine is the matter of size. The number of ministers in a Golding-led Cabinet would, in all likelihood, be restricted to 12 or 13, say JLP insiders. Their calculations are based on an oft-repeated guideline of their leader - that the size of his Cabinet would not exceed one-third the number of the winning seats. The party, they boast, is on a trajectory to capture at least 39 seats.<P class=StoryText align=justify>However, insiders are less forthcoming about the rationale behind the guideline or that pertaining to the number of junior ministers likely to be appointed. Those claiming to be in the know insist that the complement of ministers would be restricted to eight.
The Simpson Miller Cabinet is comprised of 13 ministers, in addition to the prime minister. There are also 11 junior ministers.<P class=StoryText align=justify>There is far less speculation as to the size and composition of a Simpson Miller post-election Cabinet. Insiders say it is nigh impossible to make any meaningful predictions, save and except for their certain belief that a reconfigured Cabinet would, of necessity, include a significant number of the 'Solid as a Rock' and 'Campaign for Prosperity' stalwarts who currently make up its numbers.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Whereas uncertainty swirls around which Simpson Miller loyalists will win their seats, there is ver