A member of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has voiced support for a return to the Cabinet of his political adversary Dr Andrew Wheatley, arguing that the former minister’s intellect and abilities as a scientist are needed in a modern Jamaican Administration.

Dr Dennis Minott, who once sought PNP candidacy for the Portland Eastern constituency, admitted in a letter to the Jamaica Observer on Friday that his view “will piss off a few of my Comrade colleagues”. However, he urged them to recall the experience of “Jamaica’s great PJ”, a reference to PJ Patterson’s resignation from the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Michael Manley in 1991.

At the time Patterson was deputy prime minister and minister of finance and planning. He had stepped down from the executive after granting a tax relief to oil firm Shell Company (West Indies) Ltd which, at the time, was headed by his lifelong friend Howard Hamilton.

Patterson, who had left with the famous quote “I shall return” rebounded the following year to win the presidency of the PNP over Portia Simpson and went on to become the nation’s sixth prime minister, serving in that role for 14 years — the longest by any individual.

On Friday the Observer reported that Dr Wheatley — who was minister of science, energy and technology and who resigned from the Cabinet in July 2018 as scandals engulfed a number of entities under his portfolio — said he has learnt from that experience and is now more mature and wiser.

“To be quiet honest, I am just going with the flow. I am always willing to serve and I have been serving while outside the Cabinet. People who know me will realise that the Cabinet is not the ultimate goal. I mean, it would be good to serve at that level, but it is not my ultimate aim,” the now 48-year-old Dr Wheatley told the Observer.

“There are definitely things that I could have done differently, and as a student of life I believe that every experience is a learning process and I believe that God afforded me the opportunity to experience these challenges to learn to be a better person,” added Dr Wheatley as he quoted late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”

According to Dr Wheatley, the last three and a half to four years allowed him the opportunity to grow spiritually.

In response, Dr Minott, himself a scientist and educator, described Dr Wheatley as a good man.

“He grasps energy, science, the agenda of science in technology, and even health policy leadership well. He is intellectually very, very sharp yet he is a congenitally humble man,” said Dr Minott.

He said that Dr Wheatley’s people skills were “enviable, even if a bit lopsided” and explained that he used the adjective lopsided “because Wheatley 1.0 lacked that habitual caution and mindfulness that could have served his governance purposes better”.

Arguing that “Wheatley 1.0 lacked discernment”, Dr Minott said “Discernment, in the biblical sense, often follows acute pain, separation, and reflection. (I’m thinking here of the apostle Paul and of Moses, the emancipator).”

Dr Minott added: “These leaders of old could teach a thing or two about modern narcissists and their pernicious ways, whether they be near or removed.

“This politically strong and energetic empath got carried away, betrayed, and burnt. Nevertheless, his crucible experience should most likely have cleansed him of his trusting ways and naivete of walking upon The Rock, which we call home.

“It is my considered opinion that Cabinet, in a modern Jamaican administration, can ill afford to keep the likes of a Dr Andrew Wheatley shelved,” Dr Minott said, adding “I endorse Wheatley 2.0.”