How OPM paved Smith’s exit for Clarke

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) elder statesman and former Cabinet minister Derrick Smith landed softly on a $7.5-million consultancy carpet in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) just as he retired from representational politics to usher in successor Dr Nigel Clarke.

Smith pushed back initially against the ascendancy of Clarke as parliamentary heir in the Labour stronghold of St Andrew North Western which he represented for three decades, preferring that his son, Duane, councillor for the Chancery Hall division, take the mantle.

As contention for the seat simmered, the Smiths dropped their campaign and supported the candidacy of Clarke, a favoured recruit of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and a shoo-in for the treasury’s top job at Heroes Circle, having shadowed the administration’s rapprochement with the International Monetary Fund.

The transition gives insight into the perceived realpolitik of backroom manoeuvring and dealmaking that are sometimes necessary for an amicable exit of political veterans and part of the learning curve for young leaders like Holness.

The contract of Smith, who demitted office as a minister without portfolio, is set to end in January 2022.

In response to questions from The Gleaner last week, the OPM disclosed that Smith was retained as a consultant in several areas since 2018.

“He is serving as a consultant for major infrastructure projects, investment initiatives, joint-venture agreements, and defence. His remuneration was approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and is $6 million, plus motor vehicle upkeep of $1,573,174 annually,” said the OPM.

“The engagement commenced in January 2018 and was renewed for a further one year. The current contract will end January 2022,” said the prime minister’s office.

The OPM said Smith was engaged in a transparent manner with all government requirements observed.

Cabinet ministers receive a salary of $6.8 million per annum with emoluments while MPs who are not part of the executive earn $4.2 million, plus emoluments.

SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Smith, 77, was “very experienced in many aspects of government, and there is no better mind to give the kind of advice that the OPM needs,” said a source with knowledge of the contract.

“You all love to talk about how politicians steal from Jamaica. Here is one Jamaican who, like some others on the side of the People’s National Party (PNP), devoted their lives to politics and political representation and did not steal a penny. What Derrick Smith has now is not out of politics but out of his wife’s business and horse racing,” said the source.

Smith, a former national security minister under the Bruce Golding administration of 2007, is believed to have been duty-bound to step aside to facilitate Clarke as a political rite of passage.

“This is a golden handshake, and it is something that all prime ministers do for some of their own who have given yeoman service to party and country. Derrick Smith is one such person, and I can think of several on the other side (People’s National Party) who have been given this parachute. I know two PNP persons straight up who P.J. did it for ... ,” said a current politician, who asked not to be named, in reference to former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.

“Plus, many persons in the Labour Party are still upset over how Bruce Golding discarded him in 2008,” the politician said of Smith, a loyalist of late long-time party leader Edward Seaga.