THE country witnessed yesterday the pleasant drama of an inspired Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at work.

Cognisant, no doubt, of a dreadfully fractious history in which the slightest expression of interest in leadership regime change, or aspiration to lead, had plunged the party into almost internecine warfare, the JLP made its own new history at the Terra Nova Hotel.

The decision of the JLP parliamentary caucus to coalesce around a single candidate, the 39-year-old Mr Andrew Holness, is an unprecedented sign of maturity that has immediately revived hopes of the possibility of a new political order on the horizon.

More to the point, the ability of all the leadership aspirants — Messrs Christopher Tufton, Audley Shaw, Kenneth Baugh and Robert Montague — to rise above their personal ambition in the interest of party and country, marks the emergence of a new JLP.

We are aware that the party’s delegates will have to ratify yesterday’s decision, but all that seems to be a foregone conclusion, given that the aspirants who had made their desires known have thrown their support behind Mr Holness.

We offer heartiest congratulations to Mr Holness, the education minister, on winning the support and respect of so many of his colleagues despite his relatively youthful years as a politician.

Watching Mr Holness from a distance, we ourselves have noticed his level-headedness and ability to see beyond the constraints of the partisan divide.

For example, he embraced the Cuban light-bulb programme, saying it had been very beneficial for his constituents, particularly the poor among them. We know of others, not unlike some Republican governors who rejected President Obama’s economic stimulus programme, who would have played politics with a People’s National Party (PNP) programme.

Naturally, we don’t pretend that he is suddenly perfect, recalling the incident sometime ago when he had shown unreasonable, shall we say youthful, obstinacy in refusing to shake the hand of Political Ombudsman Herro Blair who had ruled against him.

But we are prepared to endorse his sensible caution that we as a nation should not be lost in the moment and forget the real difficulties that we face at this terrible juncture of world history.

Mr Holness, upon his swearing-in as prime minister, will carry the hopes — and burden — of the post-Independent generations who have known only the fruits of our tribal politics. He is a child of the computer age and information, born in the time of consumer awareness when ideas take precedence over party membership. Much is therefore being expected of him.

As we have indicated before, we do not get carried away with the issue of age. We believe, however, that Mr Holness is not too young to embrace the current drive to reform our politics, through campaign finance reform, stamping out corruption and promoting a culture of transparency.

We would also suggest that he revisits the job creation programme of the Bruce Golding administration which has not worked. The need to provide jobs has not dissipated, as evidenced by the fuss created over the PNP’s JEEP (Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme).

Mr Holness’ commitment to continuity and to honour Jamaica’s international obligations will be welcomed by our overseas partners.

Yesterday’s development and its promises are clear indications that a new JLP is emerging with Mr Holness at the helm.