Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KINGSTON2642
2005-12-02 20:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR'S NOV. 29 COURTESY CALL ON PORTIA

Tags:  PREL PGOV PINR JM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

022035Z Dec 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 002642 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR JM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S NOV. 29 COURTESY CALL ON PORTIA
SIMPSON MILLER


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Thomas C. Tighe. Reasons 1.4(b) and (
d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 002642

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR JM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S NOV. 29 COURTESY CALL ON PORTIA
SIMPSON MILLER


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Thomas C. Tighe. Reasons 1.4(b) and (
d).


1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador paid an initial courtesy
call on Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government,
Community and Sport, on November 29. Simpson Miller,
considered the most popular politician of either party in
Jamaica, outlined the responsibilities falling under her
portfolio and in a matter-of-fact tone lamented the
difficulty of managing it in the face of chronic GOJ budget
shortfalls. The Minister, one of four Peoples National Party
(PNP) candidates vying to succeed Prime Minister P.J.
Patterson, expressed confidence in her chances of winning the
top job in the PNP's internal leadership contest early in

2006. She also stated that unspecified senior PNP members
virulently opposed her candidacy and were discussing
questionable means of sidelining her candidacy. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by Pol/EconCouns, called
on Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government,
Community and Sport, at the Ministry. Simpson Miller was
joined by her political advisor, Anthony Irons. Renee Anne
Shirley, Senior Advisor to the Minister (and elder sister of
Gordon Shirley, Jamaica's Ambassador to the U.S.),was also
present for parts of the meeting. Simpson Miller began by
warmly greeting the Ambassador, and by expressing the hope
that the Ambassador would continue to build on the foundation
of good relations established by her predecessors. The
Minister joked that her own portfolio consisted mostly of
"headaches", briefly reviewing some aspects of it: the
National Solid Waste Management Agency (NSWMA, poor
management of which created a very public scandal in 2005);
the Fire Brigade, chronic underfunding of which by the GOJ
led to a critical Opposition motion from which Simpson Miller
abstained rather than vote with her party; maintenance of
cemeteries, etc. Only the Sports portfolio, she continued,
was a positive one, allowing her to oversee Jamaica's
fiercely contested national secondary school athletics
competitions, and to preside over agreeable events such as
the planned December unveiling of a statue in honor of

renowned former Jamaican Olympic sprinter Merlene Ottey.
Asked whether her Sports portfolio included overseeing
Jamaica's preparations to host some of the matches of the
2007 Cricket World Cup to be held throughout the West Indies,
Simpson Miller replied that Prime Minister P.J. Patterson had
assumed charge of the effort in Cabinet, and that "the rest
of us are on the sidelines."


3. (C) One of four declared candidates from the governing
Peoples National Party (PNP) vying to succeed Prime Minister
P.J. Patterson, Simpson Miller told the Ambassador that she
was confident of her chances of becoming the next PM, and
that her campaign team - "a very strong one" - was working
with the grassroots to pave the way. At the same time,
however, Simpson Miller, widely considered to be the most
popular politician of either party in Jamaica, maintained
that unspecified senior members of the PNP resented her
because of her modest origins and her widely acknowledged
ability to relate to the poorer masses. These individuals,
she said, were adamantly opposed to her candidacy. In fact,
she continued, some PNP Members of Parliament have quietly
floated the idea that majority MPs can petition the Governor
General to select the next prime minister. (Note: It was
unclear to which stage in the selection process Simpson
Miller was referring - the internal vote among PNP delegates
to elect Patterson's successor, or the general election
sometime thereafter, in which that individual faces off
against Jamaica Labor Party Leader Bruce Golding. Simpson
Miller did not clarify the point when asked directly to do
so. End note.) Simpson Miller indicated very clearly,
however, that there would be "trouble" should her PNP
opponents unfairly derail her campaign to succeed Patterson.


4. (C) Comment: The meeting was very cordial, and Simpson
Miller, who enjoyed a good rapport with the immediate
previous ambassador, seemed genuinely interested in
establishing a similar relationship with the current
Ambassador. The Minister was also far more "political" in
her statements than in recent discussions with emboffs. With
Patterson having publicly committed to step down by April
2006 at the latest, it is clear that the succession race is
very much on Simpson Miller's mind. With so much at stake,
it is no surprise that the Minister's opponents within the
PNP would be assessing a range of options to defeat her.
Such is Simpson Miller's popularity that she can indeed make
trouble if she loses, particularly if she feels cheated.
Given the vagueness of her allegation, however, Post is
discreetly sounding out other senior PNP contacts about the
Minister's claim that some PNP MPs are discussing ways of
sidelining her even if she wins the internal election. At
this time Post has no/no indication that anything other than
the usual back-room, bare-knuckled political maneuvering is
underway in the internal contest, but, given Jamaica's
history of electoral violence, the allegation bears watching.
TIGHE