THE Portia Simpson Miller administration yesterday completed its first one hundred days in office, and, since the middle of last week, commentators have been weighing in on the performance of the new administration.

The 100-day standard, made famous by United States president, Franklin D Roosevelt when he took office in 1933, has been used by the media and scholars, particularly in the United States, to gauge the effectiveness of political leaders.

Having secured a landslide victory in the December 29 general election, People’s National Party (PNP) president, Portia Simpson Miller was sworn in on January 5, pledging to serve with humility.

“On my watch, I pledge that the rule of law will be paramount; and we will serve with humility… On my watch, I pledge that we will honour the faith and trust of the Jamaican people. On my watch, I pledge that we will reject governmental extravagance and be vigilant in eliminating corruption,” said Simpson Miller, who described the historic mandate from the electorate as a call to action.

“It is a signal from our people that we, the Government, must earn their trust. It also gives us the opportunity to ease the burdens and the pressures of increasing poverty, joblessness and a deteriorating standard of living,” she said.

But just over three months into its tenure, the Simpson Miller administration is yet to impress trade unionist and head of the public sector committee of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), Keith Comrie.

He believes that far too much time was spent preparing for the Local Government Elections. According to him, many things, including the naming of board members to some public bodies, were affected by the new administration’s objective of regaining control of the local parish councils. The result, he emphasised, was that very little ground has been covered in critical discussions regarding public sector wages.

“They were waiting on the election. As a matter of fact, they just start to work. For instance, is last week we meet with the minister of Finance. Not even the JEEP (Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme) never put in gear. They doing a little patchwork here or there, but that is normal for any parish council to do,” said Comrie.

However, financial analyst John Jackson said the new administration has been performing reasonably well, and singled out Finance and Planning Minister Dr Peter Phillips for commendation.

Jackson is of the view that Phillips, though new to the job, has been making the right moves. The financial analyst, however, did not agree with the finance minister’s decision to postpone the tabling of the national budget. According to him, the budget could have been tabled even if discussions with the International Monetary Fund have not been completed.

Last month, Phillips told a meeting of the Tax Reform Committee of Parliament that the delay in the tabling of the budget was to facilitate the conclusion of deliberations by the committee on the proposed new tax reform measures; to allow for a white paper to be tabled at the same time the budget is presented.

Meanwhile, Jackson said he is not as pessimistic as some commentators, and believes that tax revenues will pick up, particularly as businesses recover from the squeeze on money supply that was in effect last year.

He told the Sunday Observer that the fiscal deficit remains a major concern, but is doubtful that much will be achieved from laying off public sector workers in order to reduce the wage bill. Jackson is, instead, encouraging the new administration to examine whether state entities such as post offices could be divested in order to reduce government expenditure.

Meanwhile, human rights advocate and executive director of Jamaicans For Justice, Dr Carolyn Gomes, said she is satisfied with the performance of the new administration thus far.

“We are heartened by some of the developments in the area in which we have particular focus. We have met with both the minister of National Security and the minister of Justice, and we are pleased by their response to our concerns,” she said.

Dr Gomes went further by commending National Security minister, Peter Bunting on the manner in which he responded to the public outcry over the spate of police killings between January and March.

“We are particularly heartened by the openess of the minister of National Security to dialogue, and his willingness to take strong positions in defence of the rights of the citizens, even in situations where it might not have been comfortable politically to do so,” said Dr Gomes.