The mission statement of the OPM is: “To provide visionary leadership in developing, coordinating, managing, and implementing policies, programmes, and projects that meet the needs of all our stakeholders. My assessment will focus solely on senior ministers, starting with the man in the hot seat, Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness, who not only chairs the Cabinet but oversees the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
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This weekend the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will be staging its annual conference, so it is perhaps most timely and worth the while to provide test scores for these elected officials who have the privilege and, sometimes, burden of administering the affairs of this problem-plagued country. It is my considered opinion that because of a persistent political culture based on the distribution of spoils and scarce benefits, Jamaica's Cabinet continues to be top-heavy – peopled by an excessive number of individuals, some of whom are only there because the respective prime minister have to reward loyalty and seniority and, quite frankly, provide jobs for the boys – and girls.Īt present there are 15 ministers in addition to the prime minister, complemented by three ministers without portfolio and eight state ministers. Meanwhile, the state minister is designated as a junior minister and is assigned to work with a specific Cabinet minister. It is to be noted that a minister without portfolio, while having the rank of Cabinet minister is not usually assigned to oversee a particular government department or other permanent areas of responsibility.
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It is chaired by the prime minister who is regarded as the “first among equals” (primus inter pares) and comprises ministerial heads of departments which may also include state ministers and ministers without portfolio. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the Cabinet is a committee of senior ministers responsible for controlling government policy.