Break the tradition: make the brightest people Cabinet ministers, says young political enthusiast

Among the participants at Thursday night’s Face to Face Meeting organised by the governing People’s National Party (PNP) in St Andrew, was Charles Frost – a past student of the Kingston-based St George’s College.

Frost, a political enthusiast, had a not-so-new idea, but the reaction was the same old same old.

"I am envisioning a government system where somebody can be a member of the Cabinet even if they are from the other political party," he told the gathering at Campion College in Liguanea to loud howls of disapproval.

Notwithstanding, Frost pressed on: "We must encourage that kind of partnership. I know the suggestion that I make now may be contrary to what we are accustomed to seeing traditionally, but if we discover that the approaches that we have been putting in place over the years have been leading us in the incorrect direction, down a road of gloom rather than a road of prosperity, then we must be willing to try new things."

He also had a less controversial idea: separating Cabinet ministers from the legislature.

"We can be sure that if a person is a member of the Cabinet and at the same time a member of parliament, there can be times when this dual responsibility can be of great challenge and this can result in less efficient execution of the individual's role," he said.

Frost also wants Members of Parliament to live in their constituencies, arguing that they can't truly represent unless their fingers are on the pulse of what is happening in their areas.