THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) yesterday emerged from its first major conference since it lost the September 3 general elections to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in a combative mode, vowing to fiercely guard “the interest of the Jamaican people”, while holding the new Government to its pre-election promises of free tuition, free health care and job creation.

Party president, Portia Simpson Miller, told thousands of comrades in attendance at the party’s abbreviated 69th annual conference at the National Arena in Kingston that she had the Bruce Golding-led Government in her sight, and would be watching its every move.

“I can assure we are going to protect the interests of the Jamaican people, including those not yet born,” Simpson Miller said. “Let me tell you something. We are going to be vigorous. We will be watching every step they make; everywhere they go and everything they do. And they better do it (honour promises) cause we will be watching them.”

In an almost two-hour long presentation, the opposition leader questioned the wisdom of naming GraceKennedy executive Don Wehby to the Cabinet, arguing that he will be required to supervise and regulate business decisions which may affect the company paying him.

Wehby was seconded from GraceKennedy to the Government as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Simpson Miller also criticised the JLP’s Cabinet size, saying that that party was on record as criticising the size of the executive under the administrations led by her and former prime minister, P J Patterson.

The JLP has an 18-member Cabinet, while the previous administration led by Simpson Miller had 14 members.

Simpson Miller told supporters that the JLP’s Cabinet was the largest executive in a Jamaican government since 1962. According to Simpson Miller, the JLP would be hardpressed to reduce the size of the public sector when it had increased the size of the executive.

Last Friday, at the swearing-in of the Cabinet, Prime Minister Golding sought to justify the size of his executive by pointing to the cabinets in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, which, he said, were larger than Jamaica’s.

In a wide ranging speech, Simpson Miller served notice to the surprisingly large crowd in attendance that there was disaffection with the electoral process, one that the Government had spent millions of dollars to build, and one that had contribution from both Government and Opposition.

Promising to rebuild, renew, and energise the base of the PNP, the opposition leader said she would shortly be naming a shadow Cabinet which will be reflective of “youth, energy and brilliance”. She also declared that she will not be naming 18 shadow spokespersons on a matter of principle.