'Stay in line' PM urges new cabinet
Published:Sunday | September 13, 2020 | 7:19 PM
Prime Minister Andrew Holness today maintained his message to elected members of his ruling party, to be responsible with the powers vested in them, as the final 15 members of his 19-member cabinet were sworn-in today at King's House.
Dr Horace Chang, Kamina Johnson Smith and Dr Nigel Clarke were sworn-in as Minister of National Security and Deputy Prime Minister; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; and Minister of Finance and the Public Service respectively last Monday.
"I shared with the cabinet-designate on Friday that when I announced the ministers that I did not have a sense of triumph and I did not feel the thrill of victory, having of course experienced the agony of defeat before. I expressed to them that I was very pensive, because the character of men will be tested and we will know them especially now with such a large majority," he revealed, as he delivered his remarks this afternoon.
The Jamaica Labour Party led by Holness defeated the People's National Party in a landslide victory to claim 48 of the 63 seats in the lower house.
However, Holness said the large majority has made his job as prime minister even more difficult, as he must now "ensure that this cabinet, this government, stays in line with the expectation."
He said the country is at a turning point and can achieve greatness if each minister exercises the power vested in them with the highest level of "integrity, dignity and efficiency."
"Something good can happen in our nation, but it depends on what we choose to do, before the electorate chooses to do what they must," he concluded.
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