THE OPPOSITION People's National Party (PNP) has developed a programme to teach its young politicians the rudiments of good governance.

Portia Simpson Miller, the president of the party, told journalists on Thursday that the initiative is being led by former government minister K.D. Knight and University of the West Indies professor, Trevor Munroe.

"We are going to be training our group of young people in terms of government and governance so that if they get there, people cannot just push anything in front of them and it is accepted," Simpson Miller said.

The PNP president was speaking to journalists at the launch of the People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) at the party's Old Hope Road headquarters on Thursday.

According to Simpson Miller, the future of the PNP depends on having a cadre of young, bright persons who will take over from the current set of leaders.

Following its 2007 general election loss to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), a review committee, which examined the party's performance at the polls, recommended that it was time for renewal.

Since then, Simpson Miller has announced that her team would be focusing its attention on achieving the equality of outcome under what the party calls the 'Progressive Agenda'. She said that the correct team must be in place to ensure that the vision was realised.

"It is not just about having a mix of policy. The outcome is very important to me, and we need people who are going to have to be able to understand these things," Simpson Miller said.

Jamaican youths

PNPYO president Damion Crawford said his administration had been making strides in recapturing the hearts of the Jamaican youth, many of whom are believed to have voted for the JLP in the last general election.

"We have an aggressive membership drive and we have been taking the message of the PNP right across the country, and we are being well received by the young people," Crawford told The Sunday Gleaner.

The PNP president said that more young persons were following the PNP than in recent times.

"I think the activism is returning ... . We have been seeing more young people participating in meetings as workers and on the campaign trail than we have had in the last elections," Simpson Millet said.

She added: "We are seeing more young people coming forward for positions of leadership, and I am hoping that we will have more young persons to be our standard-bearers in the next election."

Meanwhile, Simpson Miller said that the governing JLP was stumbling through the business of governance because of a lack of experience among Cabinet ministers.

"A part of the challenge of the present government right now is that they have little experience. look at the Ministry of Finance. If there were more experienced persons in the Government, I am sure some of their decisions would have been better," Simpson Miller said.

Only Prime Minister Bruce Golding, deputy prime minister Dr Ken Baugh, tourism minister Ed Bartlett and labour minister Pearnel Charles have prior Cabinet experience.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com