Notable PNP, JLP Cabinet resignations/removals

MICHAEL MANLEY (PNP): 1972-1980 and 1989-1992

1. Noel Silvera, then minister of home affairs and justice, resigned as a result of illness.

2. Vivian Blake resigned over what the PNP said was personal and political disrespect by Manley.

3. Allan Issacs, who served as minister of mining and natural resources, was fired by Manley over allegations that he leaked Cabinet documents and government secrets to ‘external interests’.

4. Dr DK Duncan resigned as minister of mobilisation in 1977 after an assassination attempt was made on his life when he was poisoned with arsenic.

5. David Coore, deputy prime minister, resigned in March 1978 after a disagreement on policy.

6. Eric Bell resigned as finance minister after an April 1980 meeting of the party’s national executive council (NEC). Bell had a disagreement on policy.

7. PJ Patterson, then finance minister, resigned in 1991 following the Shell waiver scandal.

8. Claude Clarke, then minister of industry and commerce, was fired after disagreeing and speaking publicly against a Cabinet decision.

9. Horace Clarke, minister of energy, was fired.

NB: Ben Clare, a former state minister, resigned and left politics after the 1990s furniture scandal. He had signed two invoices for $616,000 worth of furniture to furnish houses for members of the administration.The maximum was $150,000.

EDWARD SEAGA (JLP): 1980-1989

1. Dr Ronald Irvine resigned as minister of science, technology, and the environment.

2. Winston Spaulding lost the national security part of his portfolio after failing to take action against another Cabinet minister. He was offered the justice ministry, but he declined and resigned.

3. Douglas Vaz, minister of industry and commerce, was fired because he was embroiled in many public rows with Prime Minister Seaga.

4. Anthony Abrahams resigned after a bitter public row with Seaga after the sacking of then tourism director John Gentles, plus other disagreements. He was minister of tourism.

NB: JAG Smith was a member of Parliament who previously served as minister of labour and the public service. He was arrested, charged, convicted, and imprisoned over the misuse of farm workers’ funds. This occurred after the 1989 election loss while the JLP was in opposition.

PJ PATTERSON (PNP): 1992-2006

1. Hugh Small resigned as finance minister.

2. Francis Tulloch resigned because of health issues. He was minister of tourism.

3. John Junor resigned as health minister following pressure after a shooting incident in his Manchester Central constituency.

4. Dr Karl Blythe resigned after the Earwin Angus Report on the Operation Pride housing development.

NB: Kern Spencer, former state minister in the energy ministry, was charged for corruption and illicit enrichment in relation to the Cuban lightbulb scandal while the PNP was in opposition in 2008. He was acquitted years later.

BRUCE GOLDING (JLP): 2007-2011

1. Derrick Smith was removed as national security minister.

2. Smith’s replacement, Colonel Trevor McMillan, was removed.

3. Clive Mullings quits as minister of energy in 2008 after previously serving as minister of mining, energy, and telecommunications. He also quit representational politics.

4. James Robertson resigned as minister of energy, science, and technology after it emerged that he lost his US visa.

5. Dorothy Lighbourne was fired by Bruce Golding over the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke United States extradition request saga.

6. In 2011, Golding stepped down after the fallout from the Dudus extradition request saga.

NB: Ronald Robinson was fired as state minister of foreign affairs over the Dudus extradition request.

PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER (PNP): 2006-2007 and 2012-2016

1. Colin Campbell resigned over the controversial Trafigura Beheer oil-lifting agreement. The company had made a $40 million donation to the PNP while he served as general secretary. He was minister of information and development.

2. Richard Azan resigned in 2013 as junior works minister following the then contractor general findings re the Spaldings Market in Clarendon, where shops were constructed with the permission of the parish council and electricity was being illegally extracted. He was member Parliament for North West Clarendon at the time. He was reinstated a few months later.

3. In 2015, Dr Fenton Ferguson was stripped of the health portfolio following the ChikV debacle.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This list is not exhaustive and is not limited to ministers who stepped down under questionable circumstances.