KINGSTON, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Eastern, Robert Miller launched a stout defence of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, his boyhood friend, as he opened the 2024/25 State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Miller used a significant portion of his presentation to hit out at whom he considers critical, and or envious of the prime minister, who has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after it was revealed by the Integrity Commission that he had been under investigation for illicit enrichment.

Members of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have closed ranks behind Holness and Miller went further on Tuesday.

Stating that he has known the prime minister for a long time, Miller charged that “there are elements of Jamaican society, including those connected to the Opposition, who to this day cannot stomach the fact, or accept that a boy who came from a poor background and grew up in a board house in Spanish Town, St Catherine has risen to occupy one of the highest offices in the land and has been serving his country with distinction”.

“I know there are classist elements in Jamaican society who will never accept Andrew Holness’ leadership and his rise, merely because he is not from the upper echelons of Jamaican society, and therefore they will forever attempt to denigrate his achievements and cast false aspersions on his character, even where it is clear there is no basis to so do,” Miller added.

The first term MP said this is the unfortunate nature of sections of Jamaican society. He said he “takes personal offence when this is done to our prime minister because I know the struggles faced by Andrew Holness and the hard, fair and honest work and dedication he has put in to overcome difficult circumstances”.

Continuing, Miller outlined that: “I have known our prime minister from he was a boy. We attended the same school, Spanish Town Primary. He went on to St Catherine High; I went to the best — Bridgeport High. We attend the same church, Spanish Town Seventh-day Adventist. From we used to run around playing in the school yard or take the bus and discuss our plans for the future, from I would visit the board house he grew up in, in Spanish Town and we used to talk about our commitment to work hard and fairly to take ourselves out of poverty and to contribute to building our country in such a way that gives our fellow Jamaicans who face similar circumstances, the opportunity to make better for themselves.”

According to Miller, “the person I know then has escalated his passion and zeal to make this country a first class country and has a desire to move Jamaicans from poverty to prosperity because he cares. And I’m proud to say he has done exactly as he said he would have”.

Miller said he was confident that no effort to bring down Holness, who he described as a man of integrity, who has worked hard to be where he is in life — as a businessman, a self-made man and Prime Minister of Jamaica, will succeed.

Miller asserted that Holness “has worked hard and fairly to improve himself and his family and for the past eight years has been leading Jamaica with distinction”.

He said that despite multiple globally-impactful challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Europe, it is a testament to the resilience and skill of Prime Minister Holness that the Government of Jamaica has over the past few years recorded the lowest unemployment rate ever; seen a decline in poverty; been able to twice cut the income tax burden on Jamaicans; more than doubled  the minimum wage, giving poor people a chance to make better for themselves; consistently expanded and increased allocations to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education.

Miller also made the case for a third term for Holness and the JLP.

“I encourage the Jamaican people to take note of these positive developments made possible via the leadership of our prime minister and ensure that when the time comes, there is continuity concerning which political institution has charge of the nation’s affairs,” he concluded.