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**Willi** · May 10, 2011, 05:03 AM

Lazie posted this already.

**Skeng DX** · May 10, 2011, 05:10 AM

neva seeit

**Skeng DX** · May 10, 2011, 05:24 AM

PNP says new shadow cabinet soon

PRESIDENT of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) Portia Simpson Miller says the party will soon be announcing a new shadow cabinet. She, however, declined to state whether veterans MPs Roger Clarke, Dr Omar Davies and Robert Pickersgill would be among the new slate of spokespersons, which she said would be announced at a press conference to be called "very shortly".
Speaking at a press conference at the PNP's headquarters yesterday, Simpson Miller said all spokespersons to be named would have a number of 'young hopefuls' understudying their portfolios. "That includes myself," the party leader said, indicating that she was not exempt from a performance review.

[ video link for mobile viewing ]
In the meantime, Simpson Miller along with Dr Davies and Natalie Neita-Headley, who made presentations in the ongoing Budget Debate, reiterated that persons in the low-income group were not taken into account in the presentation by Finance Minister Audrey Shaw.
"There are hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans from all across this country who are questioning whether or not they matter, whether or not they belong or if they are part of this equation. Many Jamaicans are not coping at all," the PNP president said.
Reiterating that based on the Government's own figures, poverty had doubled since the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration took office in September 2007, Simpson Miller urged Prime Minister Bruce Golding to speak to the plight of the masses in the lower economic class during his budget presentation today.
She said the prime minister should speak to the needs of:
* the poor cannot afford to buy drugs for their illnesses;
* university students who are facing deregistration;
* public sector employees affected by the wage freeze;
* the 100,000 people who have lost their jobs since the JLP was elected; and
* the 600,000 Jamaicans below the poverty line.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1LwKtygUU

**Skeng DX** · May 10, 2011, 05:27 AM

Portia on welfare and the budget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_mZr...layer_embedded

**Don1** · May 10, 2011, 10:07 AM

Originally posted by Skeng D View Post

The Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller has indicated that in a matter of weeks she will be reshuffling her shadow Cabinet.

In recent months there have been calls for Simpson Miller to shake up her council of spokesperson to make it more effective.

A shuffle of the Simpson Miller shadow Cabinet could see the return of Dr. Peter Phillips, the current chairman of the Opposition Communication Commission.

Dr Phillips resigned as the spokesman on national security in 2008 after he lost against Simpson Miller in his second battle for the presidency of the People's National Party.

But since that time, Dr. Phillips’ political capital has been boosted with the most recent TVJ/RJR-Boxhill poll indicating that he is among the most effective Opposition members.

At a press conference this morning Simpson Miller would not reveal the likely extent of the shadow Cabinet shake-up.

But she suggested that a cadre of young people will be named to shadow some current spokespersons.

She also indicated that one clear pick to a PNP cabinet, is former finance minister Dr Omar Davies.

There are suggestions that Davies remains one of the brightest members of the Opposition shadow cabinet and would take very little time to learn the intricacies of a new ministry, given his experience as chairman of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader says an elected PNP government, will be guided by the party’s Progressive Agenda of performance based on value added.

But she is warning that there will be no automatic elevation of spokespersons to her Cabinet.

radio@gleanerjm.com

Nuh matta how she shuffle dat House of 3 Card Man... ah bayh Joker she aggo draw.... startin wid harself...LOL

**Willi** · May 10, 2011, 10:50 AM

Portia's recommendations, Bruce's response
Published: Tuesday | May 10, 2011
The best part, the most useful part, of the contribution made to this year's Budget Debate by Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller was her "set of practical, workable and implementable recommendations". But the Budget 'Debate' is usually just that: proposition and opposition in a semantic fantasy, which would make members of the Schools' Debating Society proud, but which has little real impact on the thing itself, the Budget. That is, unless the designers and keepers of the Budget choose to budge.
Portia made what I believe to be a heartfelt call for political and parliamentary consensus around some big issues affecting the prospects of our country. When the Government side calls for consensus, it could be dismissed as mere political posturing. When an Opposition calls for consensus, there has to be a serious reckoning of the political risks of getting too chummy with a Government it hopes to replace. So in her call for consensus, Portia, in effect, is saying she is ready to expend some political capital in the larger national interest. A responsible Government should take her up on it.
Here are the Simpson Miller recommendations as direct quotes:
1. Our goal must be to develop a business environment in which all businesses, regardless of size, scale or bottom line, can draw from available resources and contribute to national growth and development. It will not happen by chance, Mr Speaker. We must take steps to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the Jamaican people, which will propel us on a sustainable growth path.
2. The issue of economic growth and job creation must be the subject of extensive and ongoing discussion in Parliament. We need to engage in dialogue with all sectors of the Jamaican society.
3. We have been saying consistently for months that we would implement tax-incentive programmes to encourage the development of new businesses. These incentives will apply to businesses, regardless of size or sector. At the same time, we are renewing our call for:
The capping of the ad valorem tax on fuel.
The rollback of the GCT on electricity bills.
We also demand that the 50 per cent of the Special Consumption Tax on fuel be allocated to the Road Maintenance Fund, as approved by Parliament.
4. We need the ICT sector to drive the creation of thousands of jobs and to create a platform for additional new businesses development. We have to restore Jamaica's technological pre-eminence in order to maximise the real business potential that exists in the modern world.
5. When it comes to a National Energy Policy, let us be clear: There is no need for any political contention. If ever there was an area around which there should be national consensus, it is the energy sector. The high cost of energy now threatens to destabilise all of our developmental targets. We are recommending the immediate establishment of a National Council on Energy. This council will bring together all the critical stakeholders in the energy sector.
6. [For urban renewal], I am proposing [that] a programme called CARE be implemented. The programme, Culture, Arts, Recreation and Education, is designed to create jobs, educate and train citizens as confident and independent Jamaicans. I am proposing that a pool of funds be established where citizens who are in the cultural and creative industries can gain access to funds to enhance their business.
7. This year, positive steps have been taken as both Houses of Parliament approved the new Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This may not be a perfect document. However, its provisions represent the collective wisdom of the Parliament. We must resolve the issue of the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final appellate court for Jamaica.
8. I again offer an approach which will allow us to build a national coalition against lawlessness, criminality and its causes. That approach is that we set aside special sittings in the Parliament each quarter to objectively and dispassionately discuss lasting solutions to our country's crime problem. This will send a strong signal to the country that, as parliamentarians we are united on this critical issue.
When the leader of the Government, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, makes his contribution to the Budget Debate this afternoon, and his minister of finance closes the debate Thursday, as responsible leaders with the country's interest at heart, and in the spirit of consensus-building offered by the Opposition, they should clearly reason with us which of these proposals the Government intends to take on board; and which may not be feasible and why.
These top officers of the executive should work really hard to trash the strongly held views that the Budget Debate is pure fantasy and that the political parties are gang-like entities hell-bent on looking after their own interests.
Martin Henry is a communication specialist. Email feedback to columns and medhen@gmail.com.

**Don1** · May 10, 2011, 12:18 PM

A Cabinet of Shadows..with all the Substance of Ghosts

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