THE fact that Juliet Holness is the wife of Prime Minister-designate Andrew Holness shouldn’t determine whether she is offered a Cabinet position or not, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding believes.

“I don’t think that she should be put in the Cabinet because she’s his wife, but at the same time I don’t believe she should be left out of the Cabinet because she’s his wife. It’s a judgement call that he must make, but he must make that based on the criteria which guides him,” Golding told reporters and editors during yesterday’s

Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

The question of Juliet Holness’s inclusion in the yet to be named Cabinet was put to Golding following on Andrew Holness’s comment to the

Observer last Thursday night on the issue.

After making his victory speech at the Jamaica Labour Party headquarters in Kingston, Holness was asked whether his executive would include his wife, who won the St Andrew East Rural constituency in the general election earlier that day.

Holness had said that while his wife is definitely qualified to be included in the Cabinet, it would be up to her to decide whether she wants a post.

“Of course, my wife is fit for Cabinet duties. As to whether or not she wants to be in the Cabinet, that’s another consideration,” he said.

However, he added that he was looking forward to her being in the Parliament with him.

“My wife is my greatest supporter in everything I do. She is with me in every singlething I do. So, it would be good to have her in Parliament,” he told the

Observer.

“But, of course, she is an independent woman, and she has won her seat in her own right. She also wants to serve, but she has latched on to supporting me in achieving some of the goals that I have and she has worked to do that as long as we have been together, and we have been together for a very long time. So, I am looking forward to having her in Parliament,” he said.

— Vernon Davidson