Coursehero >> New Hampshire >> Chester >> ECO 343

Course Hero has millions of student submitted documents similar to the one below including study guides, homework solutions, papers, exam answer keys and textbook solutions.

EUROPE Terraviva Monday, 6 March 2006 JAMAICA: HIGH HOPES - AND DEBTS - AWAIT FIRST FEMALE PM by Dionne Jackson Miller KINGSTON (IPS) - Although not a big personal supporter of Portia Simpson Miller, the woman destined to become Jamaica's first prime minister, 14-year-old Kelsie Clarke is still happy about the older woman's political success. "I'm happy that there's finally a female who will be in a top position like prime minister," Clarke told IPS. It is now official that in less than two months, 60-year-old Simpson-Miller will become Jamaica's first female head of state, and only the second female Caribbean prime minister. Last weekend, Simpson-Miller was elected the first female president of the ruling People's National Party (PNP), but had to await a meeting of Parliamentarians on Tuesday to confirm her as the prime minister. She will replace PNP President and Prime Minister Percival Patterson, who will, in a matter of weeks, resign from both positions after 14 years. As only the second Caribbean female prime minister, she will be following in the footsteps of Eugenia Charles of Dominica, who held the reins in that country from 1980 to 1995. The congratulations are still pouring in for Simpson-Miller, who won a hard-fought campaign against three male opponents, two of whom were fellow cabinet ministers. She is currently minister of local government. The expectations for her tenure are high, but the current economic climate may limit her room for maneuvering -- and for fulfilling election promises. Jamaica spends over 60 percent of its budget on debt servicing, for instance, which seriously limits spending on social programmes. University professor Don Robotham said that the high expectations for Simpson-Miller's leadership is a "huge issue". "This is a very serious thing, her support in the party and in the country is based on deep dissatisfaction with the existing economic model, and in my opinion there is no alternative economic course and economic model. It's quite clear that Omar Davies is going to continue to be the finance minister, and so there is a fundamental difficulty here which the country has to face," he said in an interview on Radio Jamaica. Davies, the current finance minister, was one of Simpson-Miller's opponents, but his poor showing in the PNP presidential election was widely attributed to the unpopular economic programmes and tight fiscal policies which he has implemented. The Jamaica Women's Political Caucus, a grouping that encourages wider participation by women in politics, is expressing elation at the elevation of a woman to the country's top political job. But the group also has clear expectations. "What we want to do is to make sure is that we are communicating with Minister Simpson Miller so that we get some transformational leadership," says spokesperson of the caucus Joan Brown. "In other words, we are very concerned that there should be something different and better from having a woman there." One of the group's main concerns is the tribal nature of Jamaica's political culture, which has claimed many deaths in the past. The violence associated with local politics has been cited by women as one of the issues deterring their involvement in representational politics, and it is a concern that the women's caucus is hoping Simpson-Miller will tackle head on. "It's not going to be a short-term it's thing, not going to be easy, but we want the political scene to be less dangerous for people who are in it, we want (an end to) the tribalism and the corruption that goes with tribalism, we want her to commit herself to try her best to do something about it," Brown told IPS. "We would just like to say to her, look, you have a chance to make history in other ways than being the first woman. You have the chance to say, look, I am going to put my mark on Jamaican politics and change a lot of things that keep women from going into politics." Brown says the group realises that Simpson-Miller has come up through the ranks of the same political system that they want her to reform, but believe she has signaled her desire to see serious change in the country. Veteran journalist John Maxwell says that he believes that Simpson-Miller will deliver the transformational leadership for which the women's caucus is calling. "A great many people wanted (her victory) but didn't believe it was possible because they know how sexist and macho politics is in this country, and people were ecstatically surprised that it actually happened," he said. During Simpson-Miller's campaign for the leadership of the PNP, she repeatedly stressed that her leadership would involve a bottom-up approach, and that her management style would be one of ongoing consultation. It is an approach Maxwell believes could make a big difference. "She is determined to find what she calls the wisdom of the people, she wants to find out where people want to go, because I don't think she's going to want to carry people where they don't want to go," he told IPS. "She wants to make people understand that they can do a lot of this stuff for themselves, make themselves less dependent, (and do) less begging from the politicians." Maxwell also says that her victory is a long-awaited affirmation for the ability of women to lead. "The society has been running without much input from women and we're talking about people who are better educated than their men," he said. But Hyacinth Bennett, a former president of the small, non-Parliamentary opposition National Democratic Party, said Simpson-Miller will have a lot to do to live up to her promises. "One of the precious assets of any leader is his or her integrity. On the campaign trail Mrs. Simpson Miller promised a great deal and if she's going to retain her integrity she's going to have to deliver. I even heard someone on the radio saying that she's going to make the man dem min' their pickney (take care of their children) so they're seeing her (as a) miracle worker." "I think the task is formidable and she's going to have to understand the fact that she almost spoke a revolutionary talk, (so) if she's a conformist, expectations are going to be dashed," Bennett told Radio Jamaica. But even while the expectations mount, the women's political caucus hopes that Simpson-Miller's historic victory will encourage other women to get into the political hustings. "We really would like to see other women motivated to run so that there will be other women with her," said Joan Brown. "It's very lonely at the top." Fourteen-year-old Kelsie Clarke is no more than cautiously optimistic about the political prospects for other women. "I don't know how long it will take for another woman to reach that position," she said, "but it's a start." (END)

Find millions of documents here - Study Guides, Homework Solutions, Papers, Exam Answer Keys and more. Course Hero has millions of course related materials that will enable you to learn better, faster and get an A in all your courses.
Below is a small sample set of documents: