Last Saturday, the delegates of the People's National Party (PNP) elected the popular Portia Simpson Miller as the new president of the party and in effect the new prime minister of Jamaica.

This news has created a wave of euphoria among most Jamaicans eager for a change and a different approach to government. Many people regard Portia as one of them and will now be looking for a positive change in their lives; in short hope is now alive.

This affords Portia the opportunity to make a seismic shift in the business of governance and to really put Jamaica on the map.

She should endeavour to get a mandate from the people as soon as possible, certainly no later than the first quarter of next year. In fact, sometime around Christmas would be ideal. This move could see her catching the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) cold allowing her to extract the optimum from her popularity. It is too soon to hang albatrosses around her neck and it would render attempts to point the finger at her for the state of the nation futile at best. Can the JLP mobilise over the next nine months? We shall see, but in a straight fight between Portia and Bruce Golding, a prudent betting person would take odds on the lady. There may be little need for the lady to "draw her tongue". She can point to her unwavering loyalty and longevity in the PNP and her length of service in the Cabinet as the cards of experience.

Then there is her undoubted popularity, which makes her walls practically unbreachable.

One may argue that the JLP can now muster an impressive war chest from the business classes to fight the next general election. But let's not forget that Portia did not have their support in her bid to become the next President of the PNP and the acquiescence and irrelevance of both the middle and business classes render them little more than spectators. Bruce will really have to pull something out of the bag this time.

Portia's potency as an election winner may well have coloured the delegates thinking last Saturday. Her political capital right now is awesome. So what should she do with this political capital?

Firstly, expeditiously secure a fifth term for the PNP and consolidate her power base.

Select a Cabinet that can best execute her vision of governance. If she is going to fundamentally change the fortunes of Jamaica this must be reflected in her government.

She has to neuter. Dr Peter Phillips because he is still a threat to her. He has the overwhelming support of the MPs, he was deemed the heir apparent and his political thinking is diametrically opposed to her own. Sometimes it's better to vanquish thine enemies.

There is a school of thought that his presence in the party is simply too foreboding and that to relegate him to the sidelines could in the end stir up a hornet's nest of mischief.
Of the late Edgar Hoover, former head of the FBI, US President Lyndon Baines Johnson once said: "Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in."
Portia has to have both Phillips and Knight firmly outside, pissing in.

In this matter Portia must look to Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince. Concerning cruelty and clemency, and whether it is better to be loved than feared, he writes: "I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only."

Dr. Phillips is both able and capable and there is a role for him to play. However, both he and his supporters should not be allowed to mount damaging challenges to Portia's authority. There was too much vitriol and bile in his campaign directed at Portia for her to now show clemency.
After being ignominiously routed, Dr Davies was genuinely magnanimous in his acknowledgement of the new "prince".
His campaign was sophisticated and erudite and conducted with class. Jamaica is not yet ready for this kind of canvassing and that is unfortunate for Dr Davies. Here a lot of the credit must go to Imani Duncan, a very bright and capable young woman who a lot more must be heard from. For heaven's sake, Imani don't migrate!

"Arrogant, full of himself, he has his nose in the air. This is how Dr. Davies has been described, at some time or other, none of which is true or relevant. He is very capable and disciplined not to mention principled. He is a class act and the best person to steward the economy right now. His prowess will pay dividends and he should remain as the minister of finance. It's always easy to score centuries on a benign pitch; try it when the ball is at your throat every other ball. It takes a particular skill to stay at the crease and see the job through.

The combination of Portia's popularity and Davies' technical ability and prowess is indeed a winning ticket and they could make a dynamic duo, one counterbalancing the other. This combination should allay fears and foster trust and confidence in the government.

Portia should now bring back Dr Karl Blythe into the fold. His campaign was confectionery at best- sweet and sticky and a bit too saccharine. But his ideas on smaller government has merit and he would make an effective Cabinet minister.

Going back to Lyndon B Johnson, this new era in Jamaican politics affords Portia the opportunity to create her very own "Great Society".

Using his skills of persuasion, Johnson passed the Civil Rights Bill back in 1964. On the economic front, he pushed and got a tax cut then initiated a poverty alleviation programme.

" This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America," he announced. The Office of Economic Opportunity provided training for the poor and established various community-action programmes to give the dispossessed a voice in housing, health and education programmes.

Under Johnson's leadership, Congress enacted Medicare, a health insurance programme for the elderly, and Medicaid, which saw health-care assistance for the less fortunate.
Johnson sought to provide aid for elementary and secondary schooling. This saw money going to the states based on the number of their children from low-income families. Funds then could be used to assist public and private school children alike.

He saw to it that a new housing act provided rent supplements for the poor and established a Department of Housing and Urban Development. Government assistance went to artists and scholars to encourage their work.

Portia's covenant with the Jamaican people should read: "Here at home one of our greatest responsibilities is to assure fair play for all our people. Every Jamaican has the right to be treated as a person. He or she should be able to find a job and adequate housing. He or she should be able to educate his or her children and be able to vote in elections and he or she should be judged on their merits as a person.

"Jamaica should be a place where everybody feels safe on their streets and in the homes of their friends. Jamaica should be a place where each individual's dignity and self-respect is strengthened by the respect and affection of his neighbours. It should be a place where each of us can find the satisfaction and warmth, which comes from being a member of the community of man. This is what man sought at the dawn of civilization. It is what we seek today."

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