Andrew Holness to be Jamaica's New Prime Minister and JLP Leader

Written by: Jeff Gill | Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - 04:29:00 PM EST

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica's ninth prime minister will be Andrew Holness, who has been elected by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as that party's leader, and the one to hold the reins of prime minister of Jamaica.

Mr. Holness has been awarded the highest office in the land, following disclosure last September by incumbent Prime Minister Bruce Golding, as he addressed the quarterly meeting of the Central Executive of his ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), that he will resign from his position as party leader, and will not be seeking re-election, and following that, the office of the prime minister.

Mr. Golding then speaking officially to the people of Jamaica in early October, reinterated the comments of his resignation, and blamed the recession, the Coke/Manatt fiasco, and the need to position younger persons of the JLP in the forefront. Golding was seen as endorsing the candiature of the 39-year-old, The Honourable Andrew Holness, Minister of Education, by stating, "It is time for my generation to make way for younger people whose time has come, who are more in sync with 21stcentury realities, whose vision can have a longer scope and who can bring new energy to the enormous tasks that confront us."

Golding has promised to step down after the JLP's annual conference in November, 2011, at which time Holness should become the new Prime Minister of Jamaica.