People’s National Party (PNP) general-secretary Burchell Whiteman yesterday told the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) that he would not seek re-election and did not want to be considered for a position in the new Cabinet to be formed by Portia Simpson Miller later this week.

But Whiteman, who is also the information minister, made it clear that his decision had nothing to do with Simpson Miller’s elevation to the PNP presidency and impending prime ministership of the country. Rather, it was a position he had made known before the February 25 special delegates’ conference at which Simpson Miller was elected to replace P J Patterson.

“I indicated even before the elections that I believe it was time to go,” he said at the NEC meeting at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios. “I do not want my announcement today to be seen in any way as showing no support for the new party president. I remain a member of the PNP and of the National Executive Council, but I will be giving up active politics.”

Whiteman has served as PNP general-secretary for the last two-and-half years, taking over from Maxine Henry-Wilson, who replaced him as minister of education.

Admired for his mild-mannered approach to politics, Whiteman played a large role in reducing political tensions in the country. In fact, political analysts have long held that his election as general-secretary of the PNP was a deliberate strategy by the party hierarchy to soften the harsh rhetoric that coloured political discussion between the two major political parties.

Yesterday, Whiteman disclosed that he would leave the general-secretary’s chair in May, but said no firm decision had yet been taken as to whether a replacement would be elected before the party’s annual conference in September.