The buck stops with you, Andrew

'The Buck Stops Here' was a simple sign on the desk of former United States President Harry Truman.

More than 15 years ago, Andrew Holness wrote a column in this newspaper, where he spoke passionately about the need for leaders to have such a sign and live by it.

At the time, Holness was being critical of then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson who, he said, had failed to take responsibility for several problems facing the country, including a spiralling crime rate.

Holness is now in the very chair Patterson sat years ago and our intention is to remind the new prime minister that the buck stops with him.

Holness became one of the youngest head of government in the entire world yesterday.

According to Jamaica Labour Party General Secretary Aundré Franklin, his checks have revealed that Holness is the youngest prime minister in the world.

That youthfulness is being used by the JLP as a selling point for Holness, and former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in his last address to the nation, claimed that Holness' "youthfulness ... belies the tremendous ability he brings to the job, as demonstrated in the transformational leadership he has shown as the minister of education".

Holness deserves support

According to Golding, Holness "has a clear vision of Jamaica, a vision that stretches beyond the next election, beyond many elections. He deserves the support of all Jamaicans in the formidable tasks on which he is now embarked".

Holness comes into the job after many Jamaicans lost trust and/or respect for Golding.

That trust must be restored by Holness.

Similarly, hope, which had seemingly gone through the window for many, must be brought back to the core of Jamaican life. The new prime minister must be both unflinching and uncompromising.

A World Bank report on unlocking Jamaica's growth potential has identified high levels of crime, deficiencies in human capital and fiscal distortions as the three main causes of Jamaica's low productivity.

Our new prime minister must seek to cure those maladies.

There is no room for him to shy away from the task, or to make excuses about what he inherited or did not inherit.

Golding, who has never been short on finding the right words, opined in his goodbye address that the country's chances of success "lie in our ability to set aside our differences, to find unity despite our diversity and to coalesce behind a common set of objectives and the strategies to achieve them".

The Gavel submits the singularity in purpose of which Golding speaks is best achieved though proper and effective use of the Parliament.

The days of the Cabinet using the Parliament as a rubber stamp must end.

Holness must instruct the new leader of government business in the House of Representatives to do what he was unable to do - have the critical motions on national development on the Order Paper debated.

Bridge political divide

Holness also needs to have tabled questions answered in a timely manner, and find ways to bridge the political divide in the House.

It is such a pity no sitting of the House has been scheduled for this week, especially considering it has met just once in three weeks.

The job of prime minister is one which Holness said he has dreamt about; now it is his.

As he takes office, Holness must set out a robust legislative agenda and embark on a programme of social and economic reform that will give hope to all Jamaicans. He must hit the ground running, and he must do so recognising that the buck stops with him.

The Gavel wishes him well.