Jamaica Salt

Portia Simpson Miller of the Peoples National Party takes her oath of office today, so I thought I’d write a few thoughts about her.  She became Jamaica’s first female PM, officially in 2006 when she took over from PJ Patterson but this is the first time she has been elected into the job through popular mandate.  She beat the Jamaica Labour Party’s Andrew Holness, the result winning 42 out of 63 seats on Dec 29th. 

It’s not surprising she won after the debacle of the one term Bruce Golding JLP government. 

The PNP have traditionally been a party representing the poor, she promises trust in the government – something that is needed more than anything.   She hasn’t convinced me yet to be honest as she seemed distinctly quiet over the whole Dudus-Golding affair and she has been accused of not being smart enough to lead the country – I don’t think that matters really – Reagan and Bush ran the US remember! Here’s a profile of her which was broadcast in 2007 CLICK HERE. 

The point is, she really needs to clean up politics by cutting off the links with the criminals, maybe it’s good to move away from the rich elite of Jamaica and the JLP, let’s hope she works to lift Jamaicans out of their poverty.