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Golding points to danger of low voter turnout GOLDING... it compromises the legitimacy of political authority in the country THE steady decline in voter turnout is more than a small concern for Bruce Golding.“It is worrisome because it compromises the legitimacy of political authority in the country,” the former prime minister told journalists at last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange. Golding, who served as head of the Government between 2007 and 2011, argued that with fewer Jamaicans participating in the electoral process, political authority is being based on the assent of slightly less than a majority of the island’s registered. Golding made the comments after being asked to assess the low voter turnout in the February 25 General Election, which the Jamaica Labour Party won by one seat. Voter turnout in parliamentary elections have continued to decline from a high of just under 87 per cent in 1980 to approximately 47.7 per cent this year. Golding, tho

Cabinet size should not be merely for the sake of numbers, says ‘Butch’ Stewart STEWART... we don’t have the structures and systems in place to manage Jamaica with a few Cabinet ministers As debate rages about what size the Andrew Holness Cabinet should be, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart has cautioned against having a small Cabinet “merely for the sake of numbers”. Stewart, Jamaica and the Caribbean’s leading hotelier, said yesterday that given the range and complexity of the country’s problems no one should imagine that it could be managed by a small Cabinet. “Every time that a new Government is being selected the usual argument about having a small Cabinet resurfaces. Having a small Cabinet for the sake of numbers makes very little sense when the enormity of our problems demand the fullest application of the limited leadership talent pool that we have as a country,” argued Stewart. He was speaking in an interview with the Jamaica Observer ahead of the selection of a new Cabinet by Prime

H1N1 - Persons in high risk groups should seek treatment early when experiencing influenza symptoms Dr Winston De La Haye KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Ministry of Health is appealing to persons who fall within the high risk groups for severe complications to seek treatment early if they experience symptoms of influenza infection. The appeal comes as the country recorded its fourth Influenza A(H1N1) associated death. The latest patient is a pregnant woman who had other illnesses including lung related complications. Chief Medical Officer, Dr Winston De La Haye advises that persons with other illnesses usually experience more severe symptoms of influenza A(H1N1) which can lead to a worsening of their preexisting condition. To date four (4) persons have died all of whom had severe complications including heart and lung related illnesses. “Patients in the high risk groups usually have other illnesses made worse by the infection or a compromised immune system. We gene

Former foreign minister declines reappointment to Senate AJ Nicholson peruses a document during a sitting of the Senate. Arnold Joseph ‘AJ’ Nicholson, the colourful leader of Government Business in the Senate and foreign minister in the former People’s National Party (PNP) Administration, has said farewell after 27 years in representational politics. Nicholson, a staunch ally of former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, told his leader a polite but hesitant ‘no’, Jamaica Observer sources said, when she offered to keep him on the Opposition benches in the Senate, where his booming voice and penchant for strident debate were familiar features of Friday afternoons on Duke Street. “It was an immense honour and privilege for me to have served in leadership for so many years and to represent Jamaica in Government,” Nicholson said when contacted by the Sunday Observer. “I am moving now into a new direction in my life and career, wh