Jubilant mood as Parliament opens in Jamaica

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller leads her new team to Parliament. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Wed, January 18, 2012 - 11:53 PM

HORNS BLARED, bells rang, and children danced as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller led her members of parliament and senators into the halls of Parliament Tuesday morning.

The occasion marked the opening of the new Parliament after the People's National Party's (PNP) victory in last December's general election. On the south end of Duke Street, PNP supporters clad in orange (one waving a sign reading "JLP: Jamaica Loves Portia") waited in eager anticipation for the arrival of Simpson Miller and members of her party.

From the north end, JLP supporters, many decked out in green t-shirts bearing the likenesses of prominent JLP politicians, greeted their own MPs as the latter came to take their seats across from their political rivals.

The celebratory nature of the morning was most vividly on display on the PNP side, where high-profile political figures mixed freely with jubilant supporters. Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna chatted with bystanders, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing Dr Omar Davies were embraced by complete strangers, and the slight figure of Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites was engulfed by a crowd of adoring schoolchildren. (Jamaica Gleaner)