Former parliamentarian Dudley Thompson receives a hug and kiss from People's National Party president, Portia Simpson Miller, at the party's 70th anniversary luncheon at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday.
- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
PRESIDENT OF the People's National Party (PNP), Portia Simpson Miller, is calling for parliamentarians to remain involved in politics even after they have retired from public life.
Simpson Miller, who gave the main address at a function honouring PNP parliamentarians at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday, said the country now needs the knowledge of experienced heads more than at any other time.
Exchange thoughts
"Both sides need to make an effort to meet, exchange thoughts and set appropriate strategies to uplift the quality of the contributions of our policies and governance, and the image of those involved," the PNP president said.
More than 30 current and former people who represented the party in the House of Representatives and the Senate were awarded plaques for their service.
Heading the list was Dudley Thompson, the former national security minister, who also served as member of Parliament for West Central St Andrew and West St Andrew.
Thompson, who is 91 years old, lives in Florida.
Eighty-one-year-old David Coore who, like Thompson, served in Michael Manley's Cabinet during the heady 1970s, was also honoured. So, too, was former PNP vice-president Horace Clarke, former deputy prime minister Seymour Mullings, and O.D. Ramtallie, who served as construction minister in P.J. Patterson's administration during the 1990s.
Patterson and former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke were not present to accept their awards. Sir Howard, who is also 91, is one of only two survivors of the members who launched the PNP at the Ward Theatre on September 18, 1938.
The other survivor, author and social activist Richard Hart, lives in England.
Wednesday's function was one of several events planned by the PNP to commemorate its 70th anniversary.
