Sister P all the way to victory!

[RasItal]

Jamaican Sports Minister Portia Simpson-Miller runs with torch 9 June 2005 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Lets get crackin, Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica's most popular political leader second only to Micheal Manley is a high energy spirited leader. She performs on a track record of working by doing and really have outrun most Jamaican women as the pride an joy of the Jamaican people.

According to a recent poll by the Gleaner Company commissioned by Don Anderson, Portia Simpson Miller, one of the People's National Party's (PNP) four vice-presidents, appears to be the Jamaican "people's choice" to take over leadership of the ruling PNP, now led by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson.

The Anderson poll revealed that some 53.8 per cent of all persons interviewed favoured Simpson Miller over her four declared rivals, Dr. Peter Phillips, Dr. Karl Blythe, Robert Pickersgill, party chairman, and Dr. Omar Davies, Region Three chairman.

"Her support is across the demographic groupings, but it is noticeable that females (57.2 per cent), young persons (61.7 per cent), and low-income persons (58.7 per cent) are her principal supporters," Anderson was reported as saying.

While public opinion polls make Simpson Miller the overwhelming favourite among Jamaicans for the PNP's leadership, it remains far from certain that she can clear a majority of the estimated 5,000 PNP party delegates who will make the choice.

The argument is that Simpson Miller's populist politics is unsuited for the times and that the party would prefer cerebral technicians, like Phillips or Davies, at the helm.

It was very much the same argument that was made against Simpson Miller when she lost the race for the PNP presidency to Patterson in 1992.

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Jamaica Observer online poll...

Who do you think should become the new president of the PNP?

Total Votes: 3501

Karl Blythe 34.5%
Omar Davies 7.8%
Peter Phillips 21.3%
Portia Simpson 36.5%




POSITIONS HELD IN GOVERNMENT

October 2002 - present, Minister of Local Government and Sport
Feb. 21, 2000 – 2002 Minister of Tourism & Sports
1995 – Feb. 20, 2000 Minister of Labour, Social Security & Sports
1993 – 1995 Minister of Labour & Welfare
1989 – 1993 Minister of Labour,Welfare and Sports
1983 – 1989 PNP’s Spokesperson on Women’s affairs, Pension, Social Security and Consumer Affairs
Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government
Member of Parliament for South West St. Andrew since 1989
Councillor of the KSAC in 1974 & 1976
Sits on the Executive Council and the National Executive Council for the Party
A PNP Vice President since 1978
Active and leading Member of the PNP

[RasItal]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Portia's ambition versus male-centric political tradition

BY ARLENE MARTIN-WILKINS Sunday Observer reporter
Sunday, October 02, 2005


COUNTRIES tend to demand of their leadership aspirants that they be eloquent and strong dealmakers, a consequence of the delicate trade-offs that nations have to make between their sovereignty and global commitments.


SIMPSON MILLER... the only Jamaican woman ever to vie for head of government
Within that context, Portia Simpson Miller has emerged the only female candidate among four contenders in her party vying for the position as Jamaica's prime minister, a selection to be done by April 2006.

But there is high uncertainty that Simpson Miller, though she has run 'super' ministries, and the opinion polls consistently give her top ranking in popularity as a politician and Cabinet minister, will be able to secure her party's endorsement as leader of Jamaica's 2.7 million.
It is her second attempt at the top seat. And she is the only woman ever to test the male-dominated premiership.

Her first was in 1992 against sole rival P J Patterson, whom she is now hoping to replace as president of the People's National Party and as prime minister.

The issue has always been how well she would acquit herself in international fora, notwithstanding that she has never been faulted in her visits abroad in her ministerial capacity.
The world has had its share, though small, of strong, female political leaders.

Dominica's Eugenia Charles, Guyana's Janet Jagan, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, India's Indira Ghandi and Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto have all found themselves in an elite class of women who have won the respect of people around the globe for their roles as heads of government.

And there are 10 countries currently that have accepted women as their head of government - the record was 13 in 2002.
But Simpson Miller has failed to garner support from the party's core female advocacy group, the PNP Women's Caucus, which has endorsed her male rival, Dr Peter Phillips.

Read more about Portia Simpson Miller

?Will it take a woman

[MaasDee]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

I know this woman from Rose Town / Greenwich Farm days.... She is not a nice person.

Nuff man dead because a her, especially in 79-80 when she ran against Tom Tavares Finson. Two set a devil dem if yu ask me!

[niceniss]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Originally posted by MaasDee:
[qb] I know this woman from Rose Town / Greenwich Farm days.... She is not a nice person.

Nuff man dead because a her, especially in 79-80 when she ran against Tom Tavares Finson. Two set a devil dem if yu ask me! [/qb]

I know!

[PILOT]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

From RJR news>>------------------------

Portia Simpson-Miller defends herself


Local Government Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, has rejected charges that she stayed away from Tuesday morning's scheduled Private Sector Organization of Jamaica job creation awards because she was afraid to face a panel which was established to quiz her.

Tuesday afternoon a defiant Mrs. Simpson-Miller declared that she was not afraid to face questions from anyone.

She said a confusion developed because it was not clear that she was being invited in her capacity as a People’s National Party (PNP) presidential hopeful.

Last month PNP presidential candidate Dr. Peter Phillips faced the panel at the PSOJ job creation award with Dr. Omar Davies scheduled to face the music in December and Dr. Karl Blythe in January.

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Mrs Simpson Miller's mission

Observer Reporter
Wednesday, November 23, 2005



Whatever the real reason for her decision, the uneasiness and controversy sparked by Portia Simpson Miller's opting out of yesterday's private sector breakfast forum underlines the wariness with which some view the possibility that she could become the leader of her party and prime minister of Jamaica.

Mrs Simpson Miller's handlers, and a bevy of supporters, will no doubt argue a significant part of the scepticism about her abilities has do with class and gender bias.

Mrs Simpson Miller, they will remind, was a grassroots politician who worked her way through the ranks of the People's National Party, without the girding, early on, of the "right address", the old school tie or the "appropriate" intellectual base. She is not, goes the argument of those who see snobbery against Simpson Miller, of the Drumblair crowd, where Drumblair has evolved into a metaphor for a snooty sense of place by those who see themselves as inheritors of the intellectual leadership of Jamaica's early nationalist and artistic movement.

Some of this, we suspect, is true. But we also sense a genuine belief, among key constituents that, despite Mrs Simpson Miller's popularity and the adoration that she continues to receive from the Jamaican public, she represents a brand of populism that sits uneasily in today's world of globalisation; a world of virtual borders, instant trade and where small states can no longer count on old certainties.

So while Mrs Simpson Miller may be able to mobilise and stimulate us into action, there is no clear sense of what that action is to be. The assertions remain, up to now, nebulous, a form upon which the substance has not yet been coated.

Which is why we are sorry that what Mrs Simpson Miller's handlers say was a diary conflict occurred, and are disappointed that they did not try hard enough to resolve whatever was that conflict in favour of her attending the PSOJ forum to answer questions from select members.

It would have been an opportunity for key private sector leaders to probe Mrs Simpson Miller's thinking on critical issues in the relative intimacy of a medium-sized hotel dining room. Indeed, the format had been used by the PSOJ during an earlier presentation by Dr Peter Phillips, Mrs Simpson Miller's primary rival for the leadership of the PNP. It is to be used again for the party's two other contenders.

We accept, at face value, the explanation from Mrs Simpson Miller's camp of a genuine mix-up, and not the fact that there was an attempt to duck hard policy questions or to manage and/or manipulate the process.

Whatever prejudices there may be against Mrs Simpson Miller, we believe that she has contributed to these biases and perceptions by not doing enough to cast herself not only as a great motivator but as a leader of substance. Of course, no one should underestimate the importance, in a leader, of the capacity to motivate, especially in circumstances where revolutionary transformation may be necessary.

What is now required of Mrs Simpson Miller is to outline a broad, strategic and substantive vision of how Jamaica should interact with a world of the WTO, the sputtering post-Doha trade talks, the CSME, the hiccuping FTAA, of declining preferences, high crime and poor education performance at home. and so on.

We believe that Mrs Simpson Miller should not leave her handlers to muddle through the clean-up of the PSOJ breakfast fiasco, but should take charge herself, explaining what happened and declaring herself ready to participate at the earliest opportunity.

Indeed, she should also declare herself ready to be on the same platform with her leadership rivals and colleagues, in a debate of the issues which face Jamaica and the PNP. Minister Simpson Miller should aggressively confront the hard questions and show us her mettle if she is intent on beating back the doubters.

There are few who doubt that she is an extremely viable candidate for the leadership of the PNP and that she would be a prime minister who could perhaps excite us into doing things. Precisely what, many people are not sure.

[Hopyoneson]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Big let down that was, three months notice and even advertised in the paper, all these people cancel trips, every electronic planner can track your schedule and tell you of a potential conflict...but knowing how the average man thinks they will proably chalk it up to .."cho..rich people a fight gainst mama P". I think we all know the outcome of the meeting

PSOJ - Ms. Simpson Miller what are your plans for a prosperous jamaica

PS - Well if my history is any indication I will treat jamaica like I have always approached my responsibilities..I am grass roots yuh nu.

PSOJ - So Ms. Miller, why is it that people are still using the gully bank to di di in your constituent.

*************cricket**cricket********************

[remo]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Originally posted by MaasDee:
[qb] I know this woman from Rose Town / Greenwich Farm days.... She is not a nice person.

Nuff man dead because a her, especially in 79-80 when she ran against Tom Tavares Finson. Two set a devil dem if yu ask me! [/qb]

unnu labourites make me laugh....I suppose she has killed some,She is in Jamaican politrix an we all know how tings guh...But,I know one ting she nuh come close to de number whe Seaga kill?

[Blackstar*]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Wat a way she fayva flim star. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]


PNP Presidential hopeful Portia Simpson-Miller

Posted 2005-12-03
Team Portia denies merger talks
People's National Party Presidential candidate Portia Simpson-Miller
is denying reports that her team is in merger talks with two of the
other three contenders.

All joking aside about this woman, what is her platform? Views and positions on education, health, economy, brain drain, jobs, environment, housing, transport, industries, foreign policy? Or is it too much to ask for from a J'can politician? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[RasItal]

Re: Sister P all the way to victory!

Tue Jan 17, 2006
Portia Simpson-Miller hopeful at PSOJ meeting



People’s National Party Vice President and leadership contender, Portia Simpson-Miller, says her vision of Jamaica is one of hope.

Addressing a meeting of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica Tuesday morning, Mrs. Simpson-Miller used the word to underline the main points of the her leadership strategy, if she were to be elected head of the PNP and Prime Minister of Jamaica.

With a tip of the hat to party leader PJ Patterson, Mrs. Simpson-Miller said one of her main aims is to build on his legacy of cooling political tensions during his tenure, by bringing more harmony to the political landscape.

Mrs. Simpson-Miller also stressed that an administration led by her, would seek to unleash what she described as the untapped potential of Jamaicans at every level of the society.

She said this goal would include a concentration on people-focused policies and programmes and a strong focus on community redevelopment to give people more opportunities to succeed.

Not leaving out the business sector Mrs. Simpson-Miller said another key area of focus will be prosperity.

Lamenting the fact that entrepreneurial energies in the island are underutilised, Mrs. Simpson-Miller said her strategy would focus on non-traditional activities as well as improving the financial options available to those in business.