16 March 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Opening
Lines
New Jamaica Cabinet Sworn in
With 43-year-old Andrew Holness taking the helm
of government in Jamaica for the second time, his
new Cabinet was sworn in on Monday. The new
prime minister, who took the oath of office and the
oath of allegiance during his inauguration on March
3rd, created history in 2011 when, at age 39, he be-
came Jamaica’s ninth and youngest prime minister.
He was appointed after Bruce Golding resigned as
prime minister, and served from October 2011 to
January 2012.
With the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) victory in
the February 25 polls, he received his first electoral
mandate from the Jamaican people, and with it, the
distinction of being the youngest person to be twice
sworn in to the most powerful executive position in
Jamaica’s political directorate. Holness is also the
first person born in Jamaica’s post-independence era
to serve as prime minister. He was born ten years
after the country gained independence in 1962.
Also notable is the fact that Holness is the first prime
minister whose spouse will also serve as a Member
of Parliament in the House of Representatives dur-
