TRINIDAD-BASED political scientist Derek Ramsamooj says the Jamaican populace has high expectations of the new Government to deliver its commitments made during the election campaign, and so one of the first order of business is to ensure all Jamaicans are included in the Partnership for Prosperity.

“There will be challenges of governance, political and economic management to ensure political and social stability, but [Andrew] Holness has the opportunity to move beyond just being the prime minister and political leader to become a national statesman,” he said in a Jamaica Observer interview.

He recommended that Holness, for effective governance, appoints a lean Cabinet, using new members of the House and Senate who have the requisite skills that can help move the country forward.

“The Cabinet should not have the same traditional players who have a high level of expectation, but a team that is willing to sacrifice their personal and political ambitions for the country. Competence over seniority should be the order of the day,” he said.

Ramsamooj said, too, that the Government should ensure that people appointed to head agencies are those with the requisite skills, competence and technical capacity needed to fix Jamaica’s problems.

He (Holness) must not only have a vision for Jamaica but the strength and character to continue to be honest and straightforward regardless of the challenges. “He must also be willing to present new options for Jamaica within the framework of globalisation,” said Ramsamooj.

At the same time, he said that the People’s National Party (PNP) now needs to re-examine not only its leadership but the type of politics it wishes to implement going forward.

The PNP must be willing to practise politics of constructive support in the Parliament, in the interest of the nation and not being obstructive because it is in opposition.

“You could see new leadership emerge within the PNP and it may not be the ‘usual suspects’. This leadership might be comparable to the age of Holness [who is 43].”