Otherwise, we would be very disappointed with her first major move as Jamaica's first woman leader of government. It is patently clear that what she has announced is more of the same. Among the three new faces in the Cabinet are three old faces - Colin Campbell who got back his old job as information minister with development added; Tony Hylton who was a junior minister in the foreign affairs and foreign trade ministry and now promoted to the senior post, and Derrick Kellier who ran the western operations of the Office of the Prime Minister.

Moving Horace Dalley from labour and social security to health is merely cosmetic surgery and doesn't solve the problem of his unpopularity with the trade unions. In fact, two of the most important public sector groups he will have to handle at health are the nurses and the junior doctors, who are known for their robust negotiating.

We half expected to see the addition of more women to a Portia Cabinet, though we would not want to see that for the sake of adding women. No one could be blamed for feeling that Simpson Miller is just going to be another one of the boys.

At this historical juncture, the country is looking for creative thinking and a signal that it is not going to be business as usual. Hopefully, we will see this in the selection of junior ministers. We'd like to see some thinking outside the box. For example, if the political culture is not yet ready for a junior minister from the Opposition in the crucial security ministry, let us consider naming someone like an Ionie Ramsay-Nelson or a Novelette Grant from the Jamaica Constabulary Force to the junior security job. But then the senate positions are all taken!

We expect that Madam Prime Minister will be giving us an insight into her choices for the Cabinet at the soonest possible opportunity, notwithstanding the fact that we strongly feel that she is avoiding rocking the boat before general elections.

But even after saying all of that, we are willing to admit that it might be naive to expect her to make far-reaching changes in the Cabinet before getting her own mandate from the people of Jamaica. Afterall, Portia has just emerged from a bruising campaign for the leadership of the PNP and many, as can be expected, are still licking the wounds of defeat. It is obvious that without a united party, she stands little chance of winning an election.

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