‘Much more to build’: Holness signals no plan to walk away | News

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has dismissed suggestions that he could soon make way for new leadership after presiding over a period in Jamaica’s history that has seen significant reductions in crime, poverty, and unemployment, among other achievements.

Holness’ Jamaica Labour Party was re-elected to form the Government following the September 3 General Election, securing 35 of the 63 seats in the Lower House of the Jamaican Parliament.

The main opposition People’s National Party won the remaining 28 seats.

In his inaugural address after taking the Oath of Office for the fourth time, Holness said he has heard the voices of those who say “Prime Minister, you have achieved so much, you have nothing left to prove [so] it’s time to hand over the baton”.

“But I’ve also heard another voice…the voice of Jamaica itself, the voice that says we are not yet where we need to be, the voice that says we are destined for more; the voice that says our children deserve to inherit not just hope, but opportunity,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony at King’s House.

“There is much more to build and I am here to build it.”

Holness insisted, too, that his new five-year term is not about his legacy.

“It is about Jamaica’s destiny. That is why I stand before you not as a man who believes he has completed his work, but as a leader who knows that the greatest tasks are still ahead of us,” he said.

The prime minister also appeared to sound a warning to other members of the incoming political executive, saying the third consecutive term secured by the JLP was “not a laurel to rest upon”.

Instead, he said it is a summons to continue serving with vision, wisdom and integrity, more diligently, more inclusively with greater urgency.

“I recommit to leading an inclusive and consultative government. I extend my hand to the Leader of the Opposition to create a space for the national interest,” the prime minister said.

He said the achievements of the last two JLP-led governments have served to correct “decades of mismanagement and misadventure and undo the consequences of reckless policies that nearly broke this country.”

“We have stabilised the ship, set the destination and laid the foundation upon which we must build a greater vision. We have only begun to scratch the surface of Jamaica’s immense potential,” Holness said.

“The next chapter is not about maintaining the status quo.”

– Livern Barrett

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