The Chinese saying, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”, can easily be applied to Jamaica’s current quest for lasting peace and economic development.

It’s a long and arduous journey, we admit, but it can be achieved with leaders who have the political will and the ability to inspire the nation to make it happen.

Our view is that the Executive is the repository of that kind of leadership, and as such, it is important that the individuals placed there be highly skilled and totally dedicated to making Jamaica a better place to live. Indeed, they must be patriots.

The same, we hold, applies to those who sit in the legislature. For their decisions impact on the country in every way imaginable.

We raise this issue due to the continuing debate about the size of the Cabinet appointed by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller. It is indeed large, compared to what obtained before. And the criticism levelled at Mrs Simpson Miller is understandable, given her strident opposition to the size of the Executive appointed by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

However, we insist, and for good and logical reasons, that what matters is not the size of the Cabinet but its capacity for effective management and efficient decision making.

The portfolio allocations of the Cabinet selected by the prime minister obviously exhibit the PNP’s view of the organisational structure of government which it regards as providing the most efficacious management of its policies.

Therefore, those who argue about the structure should really be focused on the team selected to manage the system.

Normally the members of that team are selected for their proven capacity, relevant experience, a working knowledge of the portfolio subject and demonstrated managerial skill. But given that the choices are largely restricted to those elected to the House, it may not be possible to satisfy all four criteria.

However, while we do have some concerns about matching portfolio responsibility with the appropriate talent and experience, the prime minister has done well by bringing into the Cabinet skill and capacity in the person of Mr Mark Golding, who has earned a reputation for refining legislation to make them more prudent and effective.

There are, of course, other members of the Cabinet who we believe are fully equipped for the tasks appointed to them. How the majority of them fare will become clear in due course, as the Cabinet has its work cut out for it.

If she has not yet done so, the prime minister, we believe, should set timelines to goals for her ministers and give quarterly or half-yearly updates on their performance to the country. That way we will be able to determine who is deserving of their place in the Cabinet.

In the final analysis, if the country is better off at the end of their term, that will put an end to the view that size matters.