MARCH 30 INAUGURATION OF PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER AS

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000645 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR (BENT) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINR PGOV JM SUBJECT: MARCH 30 INAUGURATION OF PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER AS PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA ¶1. On March 30, Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller became Jamaica's seventh Prime Minister (and the first woman to hold the office) when she was sworn in by Governor-General Kenneth Hall at King's House, in front of an estimated crowd of 6,000-10,000 guests. Former Prime Minister PJ Patterson submitted his resignation to the Governor-General earlier the same day. ¶2. In addition to the entire outgoing Cabinet, prominent guests at the ceremony included former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke; former PM Edward Seaga; Trinidad and Tobago PM Patrick Manning; Barbadian PM Owen Arthur; St. Vincent and the Grenadines PM Ralph Gonsalves; Chief Minister of Turks and Caicos Michael Misick; and delegations from the Bahamas, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda. A U.S. Congressional delegation, led by Rep Darrell Issa and including Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee, Rep Diane Watson, Rep William Clay and Rep Gregory Meeks, also attended. (Spetel reports on Codel Issa's subsequent meeting with PM Simpson Miller). Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was another prominent attendee, but conspicuously missing from the event was Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, who left the venue shortly before the ceremony began when he and his wife found their seats had been occupied by interlopers who refused to move. (The MFA Protocol Office later publicly apologized to Golding for the screw-up.) The ceremony was followed by an official reception at King's House, and by an unofficial "Inaugural Ball" at the Pegasus Hotel. ¶3. Hall introduced Patterson, who briefly addressed the gathering and expressed his best wishes to the new government. Simpson Miller began her address with a prayer, then called for unity and an end to corruption. She committed herself to addressing the nation's poverty by improving job prospects through better education and more effective crime fighting in poorer communities. The new PM pledged to expand Jamaica's commitment to CARICOM, and specifically welcomed the presence of Codel Issa, among other delegations, at the ceremony. In a pointed rebuke to outgoing FM K.D. Knight, who had repeatedly criticized her during the recent campaign as intellectually unsuited to be PM, Simpson Miller said, to knowing applause: "Learning should not make one person more important than the other, nor should class, color, or gender." ¶4. At midnight on March 31, Prime Minister Simpson Miller announced the members of her cabinet: Robert Pickersgill, Housing, Transport and Works; Omar Davies, Finance and Planning; Peter Phillips, National Security and Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives; Maxine Henry-Willson, Education and Youth; Roger Clark, Agriculture and Land; AJ Nicholson, Attorney General, Justice and Leader of Government Business in the Senate; Dean Peart, Local Government and Environment; Phillip Paulwell, Industry, Commerce Science and Technology; Anthony Hylton, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Aloun Assamba, Tourism, Entertainment and Culture; Hoarce Daly, Health; Derrick Kellier - Labor and Social Security; and, Collin Campbell, Information and Development. Campbell and Hylton, who are not members of parliament, were appointed senators in order to be given cabinet portfolios. ¶5. Septel to follow on the new Cabinet. TIGHE